On December 15th, the shop was re-opened as a community project with the post office open six mornings a week.  During that seven month period from the first meeting, activity was frenetic as research was undertaken, finances arranged, volunteer help organised and structural alterations to the premises completed.

The first step was to establish whether the village really wished to retain a shop and Post Office and whether enough people were prepared actively to participate in such a venture. A questionnaire was sent to every home asking whether any member(s) of the household would undertake specific work such as being a volunteer worker in the shop, serve on the committee, help with marketing and so on. In addition all were asked whether they would be prepared to make an interest free loan (amount to be specified).  There was a 25% response and virtually all signalled a willingness to help physically and/or financially.

Following this, the interim committee was constituted, trading prospects assessed, setting up costs estimated and a simple business plan with profit and loss and cash flow projections drawn up.  It was then possible to assess how much finance would be required and all the people who had given a positive response to that question on the questionnaire were approached.  It was considered important to involve as many people as possible in the village in order to maximize identification with the project and the principle of obtaining smallish loans from a large number of people was adopted.  Eventually, 65 families lent money and 75 people bought a nominal share in the business. At the end of September after a further public meeting at which the results of the work done was presented, the decision was taken to go. It was not an easy decision, nor was it taken lightly by the village.

A number of organisations were approached for advice and for practical help. The Rural Development Council offered a wealth of experience; VIRSA (Village Retail Services Association) (see case study) advised on the best way to set up the organisation in a way approved by the Registrar of Friendly Societies.

The Community Shop at Debden which has been running for a number of years allowed committee members to see how it operated on a day to day basis. Waitrose in Bishop's Stortford also helped with advising volunteers on practical matters including health and safety issues.  In addition to all this, there were a number of people in the village who were able to offer specific experience in key areas of the business.

By the end of November, the shop was ready to open - or so it was thought! But even the best laid plans. and the sudden and precipitate withdrawal of the main wholesaler at the last minute was not anticipated.  Up to that date, they had been offering advice, encouragement and a wide product range (from which an order had already been placed). Despite numerous phone calls to their head office no satisfactory explanation for their sudden change of heart was ever received.  But only days before our announced opening, a new supplier had to be found.  It was a period of high tension and put all those who had worked so hard on the project under great stress.  Eventually a new supplier was found and the shop opened three weeks late on December 15th.

During the first year, the shop had to replace the chiller, two freezers, (and make good lost stock), and the cash register.  The cost of this was met through the winning of competition prizes, small grants and fund raising events as initial cash flow did not allow expenditure on anything other than stock build-up.

Nevertheless, after the first year of trading during which the shop virtually broke even, the shop's finances were in sufficiently good order to allow the treasurer freedom to offer to repay half the amount loaned by each individual.  Many people chose to convert their loan into a donation.

Towards the end of the second year of trading, the financial position appears to be satisfactory and the main difficulty facing the project lies in the supply of willing volunteers to serve in the shop at all the times it is open.  This is likely to remain a problem and it is largely through the sustained effort of four key lady volunteers that the shop has successfully served the village for the last two years.

Barry Tate  -  October 2000

'We are still flourishing in 2007 thanks largely to a small band of dedicated and willing volunteers who give their time willingly and who are happy to be involved with such an important village activity. We are always happy to welcome new volunteers for regular slots or standby and have been much encouraged recently by the involvement of newcomers to the village who have become both customers and helpers.

The Post Office also continues to be very successful and we have high hopes that it will not be affected by the cull that the Post Office authorities are planning to carry out during the year.

The ownership of the freehold of the shop changed hands towards the end of 2006 when Brian and Jeanette Lemmey moved away from the area. We experienced a worrying period when we thought we might lose our shop, but happily the new owners, Henham Parochial Church Council were very keen to rent the premises to us on a similar basis and that has helped to secure our future.'