THE HIGH STREET, STEEPLE ASHTON, BA14 6EU
Telephone (01380) 871211
Normal Opening Hours:
Monday – Friday 7:30am to 5:30pm
Saturday – 8:30am – 4:30pm
Sunday – 9:00am- 12:00noon.
Website: steepleashtonvillageshop.co.uk
Facebook: Steeple Ashton Village Shop
FEBRUARY 2019
- Small range of spring flowering plants in pots available for sale
- Shop closes at 2pm on 31st January for Annual stocktaking
- Voucher scheme continues till 31st March
- Range of cards and gifts for Valentine’s Day from beginning of February
- Sadly due to increasing costs there will be a small rise of prices in the Coffee Shop (the last increase was 2016) – but the quality of the coffee and cakes is still all good!
- Free drinking water – cyclists, walkers, or just passing, simply ask in the Coffee Shop and they’ll happily top up your water bottle for you.
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE STEEPLE ASHTON VILLAGE SHOP took place on 11th May in Steeple Ashton Village Hall and was well received by all who attended.
Summary of Chairman’s Report:
This is the final year of the Government Grant to support the setting up and running of the shop. Consequently the focus of the last twelve months has been to ensure that it operates with a balanced budget and we have approached this in four ways.
- Reducing our outgoings where possible. This included changing the card machine system and the insurance supplier.
- Promoting the shop more widely. A leaflet was produced (with thanks to all involved, in particular to Kathryn Sewell for her artistic and photographic input) which was distributed to all the B&B’s, holiday cottages, campsites and Tourist Information Centres in our local towns. We had a stall at the Southwick Country Fair and at Steeple Ashton Church Fete and a pop-up shop on Keevil Airfield during the Inter-Forces Gliding Competition. These events have involved planning and organising and additional shifts for our much appreciated volunteers.
- To encourage customer spending we introduced a Coffee Shop Loyalty Scheme which ran between May and October. In November we started a Shop Loyalty Scheme which ran until the end of April. Both schemes were successful, with the latter showing that purchases worth at least £3750 had been made.
- To remain competitive with local supermarkets many products come to us pre-priced. To offset this we slightly increased our profit margin on other goods.
Continued support from many in the villages and an interest-free loan have enabled us to purchase two new chillers. We thank the two volunteers who donated a new mat for the entrance; a great improvement.
Steeple Ashton Parish Council now pays a small monthly fee to share our broadband and telephone, a benefit to both parties.
The efforts of the Building Management Committee to replace the stonework and repaint the iron railings at the front of the shop have been hugely appreciated. This Village Project was funded by the Buildings Management Committee, the Parish Council and The Melksham Area Board.
In conclusion, the Chair thanked all the Volunteers, especially those who commit to a regular shift, Julie the Manager for her enthusiastic approach to the various initiatives mentioned, and the Committee for their commitment and loyalty.
Her closing comments were ‘Together we have a responsibility to the village community and more than once I have felt we must be mad to take this on. However, I know it’s because we all value our community that we are willing to give time and energy to make it work. We look forward to the coming year and feel that the shop is in a good position to continue into the future‘.
