The Fighting Cocks is located in Stottesdon, Shropshire; a village of 702 inhabitants. The nearest services are in the towns of Bridgnorth (7 miles away) and Burwarton (4 miles away). Following a survey conducted by the local Parish Council, the licensee decided to open a shop in the pub, which supports local suppliers, provides a quality offer with friendly service, and helps to place the pub at the heart of the community.
With advice from the Rural Shops Alliance, Pub is The Hub and a small amount of public sector funding, together with the licensee’s own money and time, a stone outbuilding next to the pub was converted into the shop – the only one in Stottesdon. ‘Shop at the Cocks’ opened and has on average, 30 customers each day. The shop sells a range of goods from freshly baked pies to newspapers. The shop is open every day, selling produce from the pub, local fruit vegetables, meats, and homemade pies – not to mention sausages from their own pigs. The shop also sells jams and other items, made by small and local producers.
The total cost of setting up a convenience store within the pub was £30,000, of which half was invested by The Fighting Cocks and the rest, secured with help from Pub is The Hub, was funded by the Countryside Agency and help from the local Hobsons Brewery.
The pub also has free internet and a function room, which can be used by local community groups, as well as for IT training courses.
The shop provides an essential service to the community and keeps the village thriving, being very important to the local community, especially for the elderly. The shop improves access to a key service and has proved vital for the elderly during bad weather in winter. The shop enables local people to meet each other, and has become a meeting point for farmers’ wives who are typically quite isolated. If the shop was not there, local people would have to travel to reach an alternative shop, which is around five miles away, and would require a car.
In addition, the pub has recruited one part-time employee who lives locally and the project has resulted in a slight increase in the number of customers using the pub.
The licensee has been very keen to ensure the new service provides benefits for other local businesses and has sought to purchase the majority of produce locally, particularly meat, dairy, vegetables, alcohol, and bread and this is used in the pub and the shop. This support for local suppliers is important, as many of them are small and do not provide a delivery service. Consequently, the licensee has built a strong network of local suppliers who arrange their own delivery between them; and they work collectively to support each other in terms of distribution and delivery.
- A hard working and enthusiastic licensee had a clear vision for the pub.
- The shop sells food products from the pub, which is profitable and cuts down on waste.
- The licensee has developed an excellent relationship with local suppliers.
- The shop is well supported by the community, particularly older residents.
- The shop has given the licensee confidence to develop further new community services.
NOTE:
January 2016 – Since this case study was written, the ownership of the pub has changed. The new owner is undergoing a refurbishment at the pub and happily wishes to retain the shop but in a different format.