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Marcia Vanstone, owner of Lydford Farm Shop, is committed to gathering the wishes of the local coronavirus pandemic network. She is the new owner of a rural business that enrolled in southwestern insurer Cornish Mutual’s Real Food Heroes campaign.
“We have been a shop where we talk and know our customers. We like to give them to other people that time,” he says. “During the shutdown, those five-minute conversations have become even more important.
“Some of our customers faced wonderful non-public challenges, so we took the phone from those we know to be remote or hassle-free and sent flowers to one of our consumers who, we knew, was going through a difficult time.
“Being a village store on the net means we’re all looking for others.”
Marcia took over the small shop, located on the outskirts west of Dartmoor in Devon, its former owners in January 2018. Committed to supporting local farmers and food producers, it offers a wide variety of vegetables, meat and dairy products in the surrounding area. . She also sells homemade cakes, sausage rolls and Marcia meat pies and her husband’s family circle.
When the closure began, Marcia tried to open.
“We had a significant drop in attendance,” he explains, “but the ones who came here were from bigger stores. Many of them were looking to do their weekly shopping with us, they would move to the supermarket.
“Everyone was frightened by uncertainty. I am committed to proceeding while making sure to exceed expectations in terms of people’s safety.”
At first, this meant that Marcia ran at 3 or 4 in the morning, preparing products on site, preparing for a busy day of deliveries and running the store. As opening times return to normal, Marcia first had to make changes, adding Sunday’s closing for the first time, to allow her small team to track production and deliveries.
Marcia had recently invested in a van for her current business, which organizes occasions to add weddings and Tavistock’s weekly cattle market. As the activity of the occasion was temporarily suspended, she used the van to deliver food to consumers who simply did not stop at the store. Offering this new service has helped her satisfy the desires of existing consumers, while attracting others looking for a food delivery service.
Marcia took the decision to move beyond government rules to protect her clients and her team of six part-time employees. “I was determined to stay open, but I sought to know that I had done everything I could to keep other people safe,” she says.
“We are a small shop, so at first we only allowed one visitor at a time. We provide gloves and hand sanitizer and change card bills to prevent someone from having to take care of the money. We also installed a screen around the payment area.
“Now we’ve replaced the design so that it has a one-way formula and can accommodate up to 4 consumers in the store at any time. There is an order for deliveries and we will continue them as long as others want it.”
Cornish Mutual runs the Lydford Farm Shop, as well as the circle of relatives, farm, house and vehicles. “We use them for everything,” Marcia says, “and they’ve been very nice to handle. A few months ago we had to file a complaint after a break which was, in fact, a delight to us. They were very kind and supportive at a difficult time.
Paula Mayes, a member of the Cornish Mutual Field Force team, said, “When the closure began, I talked to Marcia about how she was adapting, understanding how she was running and making sure she was well covered. We had to make some adjustments to his policy. as the store began to make deliveries and reflect new agreements with some of its suppliers.
“Marcia’s commitment to the local community has been amazing and I have also been struck by how hard she has worked to ensure local farmers and producers continue to have an outlet through her shop. She’s gone above and beyond to make it all work and to keep her customers, staff and suppliers safe.”
“At all times, we have focused on supporting our unwavering consumers,” marcia says. “Surely they were adorable and some were surprised that we could keep open. We also have a number of new consumers who looked for a local position that they could deliver or a store where they could feel safe.”
“Overall, we feel lucky to have remained open. The team here has been fantastic. They continued, continued to smile, and kept other people safe.”
For more information, cornishmutual.co.uk