Chance for local firms to sparkle - The Worcester Observer

Chance for local firms to sparkle

Worcester Editorial 19th Dec, 2019   0

SHOPPERS in the city are being urged to shop local and support the Worcester economy this Christmas.

The final two weeks of 2019 will be crucial for Worcester’s small businesses, with many retailers and restaurants making the bulk of their profit over the festive period.

Mayor of Worcester Coun Allah Ditta joined forces with members of the City Council’s Economic Development Sub Committee to visit a number of new businesses on Small Business Saturday earlier this month.

The majority were less than three years old and all have received business grants from the council.




“Small businesses are the lifeblood of Worcester, and the City Council is proud to support them through its wide range of business grants,” said Coun Lucy Hodgson, chair of the City Council’s Economic Development Sub Committee.

First stop for the councillors was The Zen Shed. Set up in December 2017 the business is run by Guy and Cindy Thomas, qualified yoga teachers who returned to the UK from India in 2016.


They decided to set up their own yoga studio in Worcester and leased two floors at 54 New Street – a premises which had been vacant for several years.

Guy and Cindy invested £185,000 to refurbish and fit out the studios. Today the venue offers a wide range of yoga and Pilates classes and is one of a few venues in the West Midlands to offer a ‘hot yoga’ studio, a popular fitness trend.

Next stop was Pack-it In, a shop opened in October 2018 by ex-Worcester primary school teacher Phillipa Gilfillan.

All the products she sells are free of plastic packaging and the outlet is proving increasingly popular.

Customers bring their own containers and select quantities required of products such as cereals, nuts, oils, flour, rice and cleaning items. The business also runs environmental themed workshops and hires cutlery and crockery for parties to reduce the use of disposable items.

Council chiefs then made their way to well-established local business Cookmate on Broad Street which has been operating for 38 years and is Worcester’s only independent cookery shop.

Owner Caroline Gregory also launched a cookery school above the store in November 2016, which offers a wide range of courses to suit cooks of all standards and interests.

Based under one of Worcester’s evocative Victorian railway arches in Cherry Tree Walk, The Method Roastery sources, imports and roasts coffee beans for supply to wholesalers and delis.

The company moved to Worcester in 2018 and occupies two adjoining arches, one is a coffee shop and the other is home to a coffee school. It runs courses for wholesale customers and home enthusiasts – there are plans for barista training in the future.

Former rugby pro Sam Smith’s Waylands Yard was the final stop on the tour to visit the venue which opened in October 2016 with a mission to provide Worcester with a place to enjoy ‘proper coffee, proper food’.

The business has grown rapidly over the past two years and has opened a new outlet in Colmore Row, Birmingham as well as a mobile catering unit.

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