A trader who has seen deliveries spike in the pandemic is asking shoppers to stick with local businesses as the economy starts to reopen.
Ben Hartley, manager of Hartley鈥檚, a family-run fruit and veg shop on the high street in Holywell, started the business four years ago after being inspired by his taid, who sold produce at markets.
When the pandemic hit they had huge support from the community and also gave back by keeping people fed and providing free fruit and veg outside the shop for any families struggling to make ends meet.
He now hopes that people keep backing local retailers.
He said: 鈥淲e are extremely grateful to the public for their support. What started as a temporary alternative for some has now become a first option.
鈥淵ou might not think placing an order helps, but it makes a huge difference.
"We are surrounded by supermarkets with lower prices, but people have discovered we can sell better quality and more variety. Not only that, but it greatly impacts our livelihood.
鈥淲hen we first went into lockdown, we had 200 hundred orders per day, with 15 to 16 deliveries each day, this compares to six deliveries per week before Covid. Our small team worked 4am until 9pm throughout to ensure people got their produce.
鈥淭he community spirit shone through again during the focus on free school meals. We placed some boxes of free fruit and veg outside the shop for any families who might鈥檝e been struggling and in response, customers came in and left money behind the till to back it.
鈥淥ur goal was to pay our rent through deliveries and we achieved that thanks to everyone who bought from us.鈥
Looking ahead, he added: 鈥淟ocal companies are not out of the woods yet. We very much need people to continue to buy from nearby independent companies to help the hard-working owners and employees survive as we come out of the pandemic.
鈥淧urchasing from us also benefits other local businesses. We love to champion Flintshire brands, for example our potatoes coming from Greenfield.
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鈥淚t鈥檚 not just the produce on sale for us.
鈥淲e鈥檙e looking forward to welcoming people back to our tearoom with our extended caf茅 menu, which we know people will love.
鈥淥ur message is simple: please continue to shop local as it makes more of a difference than you realise.鈥
