Derbyshire village food store reveals fresh new look after £142k makeover welcomed by colleagues and community

Posted by rob smyth | Published: 06/09/2021

A community food store in Derbyshire where colleagues have been going above and beyond to support locals during these uncertain times has been given a fresh new look following an investment of over £142,000.

The Central England Co-op in Main Street, Horsley Woodhouse, has received a raft of updates to give it a fresher, lighter feel and to include several new ranges and features to boost its offering to the local community following a two-phase regeneration over recent months.

This follows the store’s colleagues working around the clock to ensure people in the community it has served through the Coronavirus pandemic have continued to have access to vital food and essentials.

The transformation has seen numerous changes and improvements including:

• Extended refrigeration section including an extended chilled beers and wine and chilled snacking ranges
• Improved food to go section with new features such as a brand-new Tango Ice Blast machine, Rollover hot dogs and a free water refill station
• New internal signage and decoration, as well as the installation of a wheelchair-friendly customer toilet with a baby change unit
• New external signage and new outside features including seating areas and a bicycle repair station

Store Manager Bryan Towle said: “It feels like we have a brand new store and it is fantastic reward for the hard work of all the team. It feels like a fresh start after all the challenges of the last couple of years.

“The feedback to the changes has been really positive from our customers which has been great to hear, and I would like to thank the community for their patience while the work has been completed but I hope they agree with us that it has been worth it.”

The Main Street Food Store is open every day 7pm-10pm. The store has a wide range of products from everyday necessities to something a little more special and also offers a lifesaving defibrillator, cash machine, Lottery, Collect Plus/Paypoint, instore bakery and a customer car park.

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About Central England Co-operative

Central England Co-operative is one of the largest independent retail co-operative societies in the UK with interests in food, funeral, floral and property investment.

Owned by hundreds of thousands of members, its over 7,800 colleagues serve customers across 400 plus trading sites in 16 counties in the East and West Midlands, Yorkshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire.

Its purpose is to inspire communities to create a sustainable Society for all.

It actively campaigns for the Government to increase sentencing for violent attacks on retail workers and works with FareShare Midlands and hundreds of food banks, generating enough food donations to create over 2.1 million meals for people in need.

The Society embraces inclusivity and equality and is a signed-up member to the Business in the Community (BITC) Race at Work Charter, while it is also fully committed to addressing the impact of climate change and is on track to be Carbon Neutral by 2030. 

It invests a percentage of its trading profit into local communities through its Community Dividend Fund scheme which has seen over £175,000 shared out between 116 good causes over the past 12 months.

Central England Co-op was named Leading Co-op of the Year by Co-operatives UK in 2021.

Press office contacts: Rob Smyth and James Brindle

Phone - 01543 421390

Email - publicrelations@centralengland.coop