Would life in Taplow be better if there was a village shop?
In the 19th and early 20th centuries Taplow High Street thrived. The shops, which included a butcher, baker, grocer and livery outfitter, served the needs of the village and the demands of the large houses of the area such as Cliveden and Taplow Court. Sadly such outlets have long gone.
Imagine a small shop in Taplow today, owned and run by the villagers for the villagers. A place to buy essentials, or the occasional ice cream, or even a coffee and a fresh pastry along with the weekend papers. A place used regularly by those of us who live here and those who come to visit. Something in which we all have a stake and which brings to the village an amenity which most small communities have lost.
It wouldn’t work of course. There would never be enough people willing to help out or sufficient money to make it happen. It would never be able to offer the same choice or value as the supermarkets down the road, or the extensive opening hours. Overall a daft idea, a fantasy.
Although...there is one in Sulgrave in Oxfordshire. I know this, because I went there. On a Sunday afternoon. It is very good – in fact the Countryside Alliance has voted it Best Rural Retailer in the southern region. Interestingly, and much to my surprise, there are over 150 villages with similar shops, which are owned and run by the local community. There are six in Buckinghamshire and Berkshire, two of which opened last year.
Villages with a shop are, apparently, more desirable places to live. The villages that have them claim that they offer more than mere convenience or 'top-up' shopping because they provide a meeting place and sense of community, perhaps in some ways like the French
tabac. They provide a social benefit, through being both a place where regular users get to know others in the village and a way of creating an informal social support network. With more people wanting to shop locally and not always wanting the impersonal service of the giant supermarket chains, there is currently an active movement nationally to re-establish the village shop as a key feature of local life. In fact, there is so much interest and activity that a charitable organisation has been set up to help. The Village Retail Services Association (ViRSA) was founded in 1992 in Dorset by the Plunkett Foundation following the successful start-up of a community-owned shop in the village of Halstock. It provides assistance for communities wanting to set up a village shop, covering all aspects of the venture including ownership, planning and what to sell. According to ViRSA, a typical community shop engages 25 volunteers, employs 1.3 equivalent full-time staff, is profitable and was supported by ViRSA during its start-up period. Start-up costs are typically financed from a mixture of loans, grants and money raised from the village.
For commercial shopkeepers, a village shop often provides low financial returns compared to what they would get elsewhere. However, a community-owned shop, whilst needing to be profitable to survive, can sustain itself with a different financial model. In particular, costs can be reduced by volunteer help (though most shops still have an employed full-time manager), with volunteers working 2-4 hours a week. In addition, because the villagers have a personal and/or financial stake in the shop, there is a natural incentive to use it and make it a success.
There may be a great deal of scepticism about whether Taplow could support a shop. Certainly, there would need to be a significant amount of work to test its viability and get the project going. On the other hand, the benefits would be equally significant. If the desire and support is there it would seem eminently feasible. Given that Taplow already has a strong community spirit (look at the village green party) and a well-educated and skilled population, surely it must be possible for us to make it work too – if we want to.
The Committee is wondering whether to take this further. The first step would probably be to send out a questionnaire in the near future to gauge whether it would be a viable idea. In the meantime it would be great to get your feedback and ideas. Any thoughts you have should be directed to
neil.blundell@sky.com and headed 'Village Shop'.
For more information, see the ViRSA website at
www.virsa.org
Neil Blundell
