A young entrepreneur who sought to take on the might of major supermarkets with his own online grocery delivery service has closed the business.
Henry Malton, 20, of Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, launched Henry’s Local around 18 months ago after cancelling plans to go to university in favour of running his own venture.
With local provenance at the firm’s heart, he set up an alternative to supermarkets and delivery services through Henry’s Local, an online service which delivered high-quality produce, including meat, fruit and veg and dairy products, from suppliers around the coast.
READ MORE: {}
Mr Malton – a finalist in the young business executive of the year category at last year’s North East Business Executive of the Year Awards – built up a loyal following of shoppers in the North Tyneside area.
North East retail news
But on December 26 he announced to customers that he had made the sad decision to close up shop, saying: “I have thoroughly enjoyed the last 14 months but the unfortunate reality is that it just wasn’t working out for me.
“The supermarkets are big and powerful for a reason, and I’ve been unable to persuade enough local people to use my alternative service regularly.
“I’m sorry that I couldn’t tell you sooner but I didn’t want to panic my local suppliers. They have been really good to me and I didn’t want to worry them unnecessarily.
“Christmas seemed as good a time as any to draw a line under Henry’s and closing the business honourably is very important to me.”
Most Read
Mr Malton told The Journal that he was saddened to cease trading, but that he was taking away many positives from the experience – and that he will be back soon with a new venture.
He said: “I’m absolutely gutted, but within the last month I’ve realised that it’s just not working for me. You can try and keep going all you want I got to the stage where I realised it’s not for me, so unfortunately I’ve closed it.
“I’ve not really had a day off in the last 18 months – even though deliveries were made five days a week you spend the other two doing paper work, social media and other work on the business.
“But it’s been a great learning experience. Time management, putting customers first no matter what, talking to people and approaching them have all been very important throughout.
“I’ve not pin-pointed what I want to do next but I’ve got some ideas going round my head, and they are all purely online ventures with no logistics involved, no driving around all over the shop, packing and delivering. But it will be in retail – that’s my passion.”
He added: “It’s a case of onwards and upwards now. All the most successful entrepreneurs have had failed businesses before they achieved success, after all.”