North Yorkshire independent trader laments 'harsh' closures for second lockdown

A Yorkshire market town trader has lamented the “harsh” scenario of independent businesses such as hers having to shut during lockdown while retail giants can remain open.
Clara Challoner Walker, oOwner of The Cosy Cottage Store in Malton, which recently opened and is now preparing for lockdown. Picture: Gary Longbottom.Clara Challoner Walker, oOwner of The Cosy Cottage Store in Malton, which recently opened and is now preparing for lockdown. Picture: Gary Longbottom.
Clara Challoner Walker, oOwner of The Cosy Cottage Store in Malton, which recently opened and is now preparing for lockdown. Picture: Gary Longbottom.

The Cosy Cottage Soap Company in Malton opened its first physical store only last month but because all shops deemed inessential have to close, it will be unable to trade in person from tomorrow.

Clara Challoner Walker, who runs the business and lives nearby, said: “We will have been open 19 days by the end of Wednesday when we have to close again.

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“I think we’re very sad, really, that it’s happened. It’s sad that so many people are still unwell and sad that we’re going to have to close and great big conglomerates like Tesco and Amazon are going to be able to sell more or less what they like.”

Sue Wood at Streetwise shop and laundrette in Hawes decorates a tree of life with Christmas decorations to raise money for  Christopher Riley before the upcoming lockdown. Picture: Tony JohnsonSue Wood at Streetwise shop and laundrette in Hawes decorates a tree of life with Christmas decorations to raise money for  Christopher Riley before the upcoming lockdown. Picture: Tony Johnson
Sue Wood at Streetwise shop and laundrette in Hawes decorates a tree of life with Christmas decorations to raise money for Christopher Riley before the upcoming lockdown. Picture: Tony Johnson

The Cosy Cottage Soap Company has run for two years and manufactures around the corner from its new store on Market Place, now employing 14 people on a full- and part-time basis.

Mrs Challoner Walker, 56, is hopeful that the business will continue to get trade from its “vibrant website” .

She said: “We have a cushion but it’s a big hit for us.”

The company decided to open up a physical shop in the belief that there would not be a second full lockdown after the Government suggested that would not happen.

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As recently as Friday last week , foreign secretary Dominic Raab cast doubt on further national lockdowns and defended his Government’s tier system.

Mrs Challoner Walker said that it was commonly the case that independent businesses got 60 per cent of their revenue during the last quarter in the run up to Christmas.

She spoke of Malton’s varied stores such as gift shops and florists but said “all of those in the more generic sense are products that people will be able to get from the big corporates, which can still open.

“It seems harsh to those small family businesses employing local people.”

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In Hawes, Sue Wood runs the Streetwise shop and laundrette and is planning to open the latter only on Saturdays partly because there will be less visitors with holiday sites closed.

However, she is remaining positive.

The 60-year-old said: “Hawes goes quiet anyway and really, we’ve been very fortunate because the weeks when we’ve come out of lockdown, we’ve sold things in the shop.”

She wished to let people know that they can still donate towards a fund for Chris Riley, the son of a local taxi driver who has cancer, by adding a gift tag to the Christmas tree in the chemist.

Boris Johnson promised there are "better days before us" in the battle against coronavirus, as England prepared for a second lockdown.

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The trial of rapid coronavirus tests across Liverpool and the development of new treatments offered hope, the Prime Minister told his Cabinet.

There is unease on the Tory benches about the lockdown, which will begin on Thursday and last until December 2, but Mr Johnson again insisted it was necessary.

The Prime Minister said the R number - the reproduction rate of the virus - was "only just above 1" and the lockdown would bring it back below that threshold.

He acknowledged that "we don't want to be doing things to repress liberty, we don't want to do anything to damage our economy" but "we would see fatalities running in the thousands if nothing was done".