Watten shop to be ‘run by the community for the benefit of the community’
Volunteers are pressing ahead with their efforts to revitalise a Caithness village shop and post office as a social enterprise and community hub.
Watten Shop Group Ltd took on the lease of Woodside Village Store earlier this year so that it could be “run by the community for the benefit of the community”.
The group is aiming to raise around £235,000 to buy and refurbish the premises, having already employed extra staff, increased the stock and extended the opening hours.
The focus now is on generating a total of £15,000 from community shares to demonstrate to funding bodies that there is local support for the venture.
Shares cost £5 each, allowing the public to invest “in a simple and affordable way” and have a vote on how the shop is run. Every member will have one vote, no matter how many shares they purchase.
Committee members had a “fantastic response” from the public at last month’s County Show and they hosted a share launch event in the village hall last Saturday. They have now sold £6500 worth of shares.
Gordon McPhie, the chairman, said: “The whole idea was really to revitalise the shop. Obviously it’s never going to compete with the likes of the major supermarkets, but the whole thing was to put the emphasis on community and social interaction.
“It’s important that we’ve got the post office as well.
“We’re restocking with as much local produce as possible to keep down on the road miles. Wherever we can do local, we’ll stock local.
“The idea is that somebody can go in there and sort themselves out with all the ingredients for a three-course meal.
“As people within the community say ‘please stock this’ or ‘please stock that’ then we’ll get it in when we can and see how it sells. Ultimately we want the shop to make a profit but at this moment it’s to keep it open, keep the post office open, increase the stock and keep it as a community hub.”
A survey last year indicated strong support for a community shop, according to the group’s share offer document. It says all the evidence suggests that it will be viable, adding: “Community-owned shops of this type are opening across the UK and have proved a resilient form of business.”
One committee member, Maria Wybrew, pointed out that since a coffee machine was installed a month ago the shop’s takings had gone up by £300 a week.
Mr McPhie said: “We have to demonstrate that the local community and the wider community are behind the shop, and the best way of doing it is by purchasing shares.
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“We kept the cost of the share as low as we possibly could to encourage more people to become involved and take it from there.
“We are in active negotiations with the current owners to purchase the property.”
A competition for children to design a logo will continue until the end of August. The shop is likely to be given a new name.
The share offer document states that “plans are in place to purchase the premises subject to funding being awarded. It will be managed by local residents, and run by the community for the benefit of the community.
“We are aiming to raise approximately £235,000 to purchase the shop and to refurbish the building.”
Each applicant can apply for any number of shares up to a maximum value of £1500.
Woodside Village Store has been on the market since early 2022. Watten Shop Group Ltd was formed in 2023 as a community benefit society and took the lease of the shop in February this year.
In June the group was awarded wind farm community benefit funding and “we now find ourselves in negotiations having submitted our offer”.
The shop will be staffed by a paid business manager (part-time), shop manager (full-time) and assistants.
The group is being supported by Alix Sutherland, community development officer at Caithness Voluntary Group. Also assisting is Alison Macklin from the Plunkett Foundation.
Anyone interested in buying shares can email wattenshopchair@gmail.com or collect a prospectus and membership form from the shop itself, or get in touch via the Watten Shop Group Ltd Facebook page.
The next steps for the group are to complete the purchase of the shop, launch a website and hold an annual general meeting in September.
