| County | Hampshire, South East |
|---|---|
| Postcode | GU32 1LJ |
| Opened | 2006 |
| Post Office | Yes |
| Management | Managed plus volunteers |
| Legal | ViRSA IPS model rules |
| Premises | Previous shop |
View a map of where to find us
9am - 1pm Monday to Friday
9am - 12 noon Saturday
West Meon Village Shop has become the first recipient of Village CORE Programme funding to open. West Meon Village Shop Association received a £20,000 grant that was matched by community contributions in addition to a loan from Co-operative and Community Finance.
To find out more about the Village CORE Programme, please click here.
The village of West Meon in Hampshire lies almost equidistant between Winchester and Petersfield. The village has over the years seen many retailing ventures come and go, but in recent years it has been home to an excellent butcher (Harriotts), 2 pubs (The Thomas Lord and The Red Lion), a Post Office, a Village Shop, a garage, and an outdoor clothing and field sports shop (which is run from domestic premises). In 2005, the longstanding and popular tenant of the Village Shop decided to seek semi-retirement and sold the business to a third party. Shortly afterwards, the sub-postmaster decided to retire and also sought a buyer who would be willing to take on the PO business.
Unfortunately, the village shop struggled under new ownership and deteriorated rapidly, and there were no offers forthcoming to take on the PO. Against this background, a group of villagers clubbed together to buy out the existing tenant of the village shop and apply to have the PO relocated into the village shop premises. Contact was made with ViRSA at an early stage and invaluable advice and support provided to a group of people who really had very little idea about what was required or what the issues were in local village shop retailing. The village team were successful in assuming the lease of the village shop, but needed to raise in the region of £150,000 to cover the purchase of the business, dilapidations and repairs, new racking and freezer units, the purchase of delivery vans and other associated capital costs. One of the village team also applied and was accepted as the new sub postmaster for West Meon.
Initial funding was provided by several village families who committed to underwrite a major amount of the capital required on the basis of an interest free loan with no termination date. The team then set about raising other funding. The first and major support came from ViRSA through the CORE programme. The village team formed a community membership organisation under the guidance of ViRSA and applied to be the first recipient of a CORE programme grant. We were awarded a full £20,000 grant on the condition that matched funding from the village of £20,000 was raised and also that a loan was taken out of an equal amount with a community bank. As a result, the village held a meeting in early November 2006 which was attended by over 150 residents – the outcome of which was that the West Meon Community Shop Association has attracted over 350 members to date (each owning one £10 share which entitles them to a vote on the operation and management of the Shop at the AGM each year), and a further £25,000 being raised through a gift debenture scheme (which entitles debenture holders to a percentage off their grocery bills on account in the shop). With this initial support secured, the village team also set about finding and applying for other grants - £20,000 from the Post Office Rural Re-Start programme; £3,750 from the AONB; a £5,000 enabling grant from Winchester City Council’s Economic Development Office, among others – and we are currently in discussion with the Parish Council and other funding bodies about other sources of finance.
In addition to financial support, the village approached major retailers for support. One Stop, owned by Tesco, provided invaluable support, advice and (crucially) equipment. The One Stop team drew up a plan for the shop layout and provided racking and freezer units from the surplus that they had as a result of the ongoing re-formatting of the One Stop shops into Tesco Express. The regional director and his team not only provided all of this equipment for free (saving us a major expense), they also came with 8 people and spent 5 days installing the equipment and making sure it worked. Help with till systems and other retail detail was also forthcoming. A truly magnificent contribution which was and is integral to the overall success of our project – we cannot thank them enough! Support was also on hand from J Sainsbury who were very supportive and provided some early advice on layout and design for the shop and its environs.
The refurbishment and refit work has taken around 5 months and will be completed by Christmas 2006. We have employed a new manageress, secured the employment of the existing staff, and are working with local suppliers to build a shop that we can be truly proud of and also (most importantly) that serves the needs of all of the local community. We also are working on a re-launch of the village High Street on 9 December which will showcase what we have done with the shop, and also highlight the excellent other retailers in the village who also have done much to help the shop re-start and who themselves have also undertaken a lot of work on their own businesses. Plans for next year include setting up an internet café in the back of the shop which will also bring together young and old for computer training sessions at week-ends.
The result is that we now have a vibrant sense of community and a shop that people are proud to be associated with and determined to use. We also have kept our Post Office and we would definitely say that the PO Rural Team could not have been more proactive and helpful in helping us navigate through the various different stages of the re-start. A big thank you to the ViRSA team for playing a major role in our shop regeneration.
Information provided by the West Meon Village Shop Association