Blooming successBy Barnaby Usborne
The shop had a very successful year in 2009 with an annual trading surplus of nearly £14,000. The 30 shareholders attending the AGM on Sunday 18th April heard how this financial success had enabled the shop to offer repayment of all the personal loans made by residents when plans for a shop were first conceived in 2006.
The success has been crucially dependent on the hard work and dedication of the management team – Geoff Swindells, Sally Knowles and Max Haynes – and the 25 or so volunteers who staff the shop day in day out, come shine or snow. A key attraction over the last year has been the wonderful flowers brought straight from Covent Garden twice a week by Chris Field which brighten the shop and bring in the customers.
An increase in turnover from £117,000 in 2008 to £154,000 in 2009 attests to the enthusiasm and support of our customers. But visit the shop on a Saturday morning and you will see that it is more than a business; it is a social hub as well.