Please
click on the questions below
Q3. Does that mean that the business case for a shop is
questionable?
Q5. What other locations have been considered for the shop?
Q7. How can I buy a share, make a loan or donate money?
Q8. How is money being raised?
Q9. How much has been raised so far?
Q11. Will the shop attract yobs vandalism and thieves?
Q12. Will there be lots of lorries
delivering goods?
Q13. What products will you stock?
Q14. What services will you provide?
Q15. Will there be enough parking at the Village Hall?
Q16. What will happen to the profits of the shop?
Q17. Who is the Village Shop answerable to?
Q18. What is in it for the Village Shop Committee?
Q19. What is the long term view?
Community shops are unlike privately
owned shops in that they are usually based on a “not for profit”
principle. They are run by members of
the community for the benefit of the community.
For more information on community shops, visit www.virsa.org
Q2. How can a new shop survive when our
previous shop closed due to it being unviable?
Community shops do not need to make a
profit and consequently, they need only to cover costs. Therefore, a lower level of turnover can
still allow for the business to remain viable.
Q3. Does that mean that the business
case for a shop is questionable?
The feedback we have received suggests
that there will be sufficient support in the village for the shop. We plan to achieve a trading surplus in three
years time and, in accordance with the business rules of an Industrial
Provident Society, any surplus will be reinvested in community schemes. For example, the community shop in Hyde Heath
has done so well that it has been able to make donations to their village hall
society and the local school from the trading surplus. (Our business rules are
available on the ‘useful information’ pages of the website).
We are still working out the finer
details, speaking with the Village Hall Committee and with residents. We are also waiting for planning permission
to be granted for a temporary building. Subject to all these things, it looks
hopeful that the shop will be situated within the grounds of the Village Hall,
close to the playground.
Q5. What other locations have been
considered for the shop?
Several locations in the village were
considered. These included; the old village shop, the Harrow, the verge
opposite the Harrow Pub, the industrial yard next to Buildbase (Wrights), the
verge near the village roundabout, Deters building and the Village Hall. The
main reasons the majority of these were ruled out was, although local land
owners were very sympathetic to our cause, they had leases and legal
obligations to the current occupants or had no room within their buildings. The
current shop owners are not ready to lease their space and High Wycombe Planning
Department objected to the ‘public areas’ due to traffic safety and other
issues. The only area left to pursue was the Village Hall location.
There are many ways to help. Volunteers
are needed to deliver leaflets, work in the shop and assist in the general
maintenance and setting up of the shop. We also require financial assistance by
means of loans or donations. You can also each buy a share in the shop for Ł10
(see business rules). If you want more information use our feedback form
available on the ‘contact us’ pages of the website or donate using the pledge
form on the ‘useful information’ pages of the website.
Q7. How can I but a share, make a loan
or donate money?
Please see our response to question 6.
Q8. How is money being raised?
We are seeking support from members of
the community (see question 6) and we are exploring a number of avenues for
grant monies and match funding. Match
funding means that funds may be made available to the shop equal to the amount
of money that has been raised from local people and businesses. Therefore, if you can provide financial help,
you will be assisting on two counts – the money you offer and the same amount
again which may be forthcoming from match funding.
Q9. How much has been raised so far?
See out Financial Barometer to see how
well we are doing. This is available on the ‘useful information’ pages of the
website.
Our target is to have the shop
operational in the summer of 2008.
Initially it was hoped it could be combined with Village Day, but this
is now beyond our reach. Planning and other legal matters have taken longer
than anticipated to finalise. However, we believe that by setting a bold
target, we will be spurred on to get the shop up and running sooner rather than
later!
Q11. Will the shop attract yobs
vandalism and thieves?
Some residents local to the Village
Hall have raised this as a concern so we have taken this subject very seriously
and engaged with the local police force and the Hughenden Valley Community
Officer. Their opinion is that Hughenden Valley has a long history of a low
crime rate and although there are no guarantees, it is very unlikely that a
small porta cabin will attract much attention.
The police authorities also offered
advice in securing the shop and were please that we plan to operate security
cameras around the shop. This will deter youths from gathering in the area and
lower the possibility of vandalism. They also brought to our attention the fact
that the shop launch time coincides with the start of night time security
patrols in the Hughenden area.
It is also a known fact that day time
crime falls dramatically in a village that has a shop. This is due to the
increased number of people on foot who become aware of strangers and unusual
activities in the area, making us more aware of our environment and each other,
i.e. A community!
Q12. Will there be lots of lorries
delivering goods?
No. The main supplies will be collected
from the local cash and carry by a member of the committee or the shop manager
in their car. Some deliveries will be made by the milkman on his float and the
sandwiches etc will be delivered by a small van or car. There will be no large
lorries making deliveries.
Q13. What products will you stock?
As this is a community shop, we will
look to the local community to tell us what they want. We plan to stock the
usual branded items such as cereals and baked beans etc, but also locally
produced items, such as honey, vegetables, milk etc. Initially we have looked
at similar community shops and they have shared their best selling items with
us, so we will have a good idea of what to start off with. However, we will constantly monitor the stock
to ensure it meets the needs of our community.
Q14. What services will you provide?
The ideas for this area of the shop are
endless. Initially we will offer simple services and grow our offerings as we
grow more aware of the local needs. Services we are keen to experiment with
are:
Deliveries for the elderly, a visiting
post office service, dry cleaning, cash back, top up services, pre ordered
vegetable boxes and many more. Use our feedback form on the ‘contact us’ page
of the website if you would like to make a suggestion.
Q15. Will there be enough parking at
the Village Hall?
Of course we would like you to consider
walking to the local shop if at all possible. Our environment is fragile enough
and we would hope the village shop would go some way to alleviating the need to
drive into town or up to Naphill.
We are aware of the Sunday morning
parking issue at the village hall due to the football practice, but this is
only one day of the week for some months of the year and the shop should not
have a great impact. Visitors to the
shop will be throughout the day and there did not seem to be a parking issue at
the last village shop. We will of course monitor the situation and work with
the Village Hall Committee in the unlikely event a problem does occur.
Q16. What will happen to the profits of
the shop?
The main priority will be to repay
those residents that made loans to the shop (see business rules on the ‘useful
information’ pages of the website). The
business plan demonstrates how we plan to achieve surplus funds in the first
2-3 years and following that all surplus funds will be donated back into
village projects.
Q17. Who are the Village Shop Committee
answerable to?
The Committee will be answerable to the
share holders and the committee members will be voted in each year by the same
share holders. The business rules give more detail in this area and I would
encourage you to read them by clicking here.
If you would like to become a shareholder, please complete a pledge form
by clicking here. The business rules and pledge form are available on the
‘useful information’ pages of the website.
Q18. What is in it for the Village Shop
Committee?
Apart from the satisfaction of getting
the project off the ground we are set to gain considerably. We aim to create a
village facility that will create a sense of community, offering help and
support to those that need it and making Hughenden Valley a more pleasant and
desirable place for us all to live in.
Q19. What is the long term view?
The business plan takes a five year
view of the shop and plans its success.
The future really depends on you, the residents. If the shop is used and is successful in what
it is trying to achieve then a more permanent location would be required. There would be more local employment, more
funds available for the village hall, school etc. and more awareness of each
other. The business plans are available
on the ‘useful information’ pages of the website.