Holmfirth and the Tesco effect

Shopkeepers in Holmfirth have made their feelings plain about the arrival of Tesco. Chris Berry sounds out opinion in local farm shops.

Nora Batty’s wrinkled stockings and Compo’s boots have long since disappeared from Holmfirth. The Last of the Summer Wine comedy series finished three years ago. But the latest developments in this Yorkshire outpost are no joke so far as some are concerned.

Earlier this month Holmfirth’s shopkeepers demonstrated their fears of what will happen to the town if Tesco open their proposed new out-of-town superstore.

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They plastered cardboard across their windows as though they were boarded up.

But what about those shopkeepers who are on the fringe, those who are not in a main street?

Will the latest move from the supermarket giants also cause problems for the local farm shops and village butchers in the area?

Brindon Addy runs Addy’s in Hade Edge just a mile and a half’s climb out of Holmfirth, to the south of the town.

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He started his business nearly 20 years ago alongside Boshaw Whams reservoir and is a traditional butcher and grazier, which basically means he buys livestock and grazes it before it ends up in the shop. “Not quite a farmer” is how he puts it.

‘The main issue is that it’s going to be about a mile out of Holmfirth, between the town and New Mill,” says Brindon.

“There’s no way that people will go there, park their car and then walk into Holmfirth to do any other shopping.

“That might not look as though it would affect us here at all, but if the town centre of Holmfirth dies there won’t be the same community spirit and that will affect us all.

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“‘We’re out of town ourselves and the demographic of Tesco people aren’t particularly our type of customers.

“I don’t want anyone thinking I’m arrogant. This certainly won’t do us any good, but it’s probably not going to put me out of business. If Marks & Spencer were here it would probably affect us more.

“We offer traceability, quality, provenance, cooking advice and buy from local farmers.

“A lot of our customers are younger people who have caught on to the TV chefs like Jamie Oliver and James Martin.

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“They are more educated in what meat they are looking for and want to know about provenance. We take pride in what we do.

“I’m passionate about promoting local food. Tesco won’t be here for that.

“Long term it will have an effect. It won’t bring good jobs, only shelf stackers and minimum wage jobs.

“Personally I don’t like Tesco, but it is the location that is the main problem.

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“I’d prefer someone like Morrisons, but I couldn’t have an argument with Tesco taking their place in the town itself. There’s an absolute mess of a modern building which has been a white elephant ever since it was built. If they knocked that down they could get a nice- looking supermarket in its place.

“If it was slap bang in the centre of Holmfirth there couldn’t really be an objection because people would go there as well as using other local stores.”

Brindon feels that the protest may not have worked in the shopkeepers’ favour.

“‘It has certainly swung around because initially everyone was against it (Tesco). Now I’m not sure if they’ve got the media on their side.

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“It’s coming across as the whingeing shop owners of Holmfirth.

“It won’t bring good jobs or tourists and Holmfirth will become a ghost town.”

Four years ago Andrew and Lisa Colwill set up Coddy’s Farm Shop at Holmbridge, three miles from the town.

Their 120 acre Whitegate Farm, run in partnership with Andrew’s parents Brian and Lorraine, provides the produce which includes Aberdeen Angus beef, Lleyn lamb and pigs.

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They work exceptionally hard and sell some of their meat direct from the farm, but the lion’s share is sold at Holmfirth Market in the town and at other local farmer’s markets in Cleckheaton, Saltaire and Littleborough.

They did not join in with the shopkeepers’ protest last weekend.

“The market was open as usual. I do agree with what they are doing and we will support them, “ says Lisa.

“But with the market having lots of different traders I don’t think we really had the option to get involved, so we didn’t have any cardboard.

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“We had thought about launching a farm shop for a number of years in order to boost income when livestock wasn’t making much money.

“The livestock trade today is better than it was then, although costs have risen as prices have got better.

“We all get involved with the farm shop and we’ve had a lot to learn about running this kind of business and dealing direct with customers, but we are building a very good reputation in Holmfirth Market and it’s always nice when people say good things about your produce.

“My first thought when I heard about Tesco wanting to come to Holmfirth was that I didn’t really want it.

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“I don’t think Holmfirth really needs a large supermarket. We already have one in the centre of the town and there are plenty of others round and about.

“I don’t know how it will affect our trade. My own feeling is that people will still go to a supermarket or decide to come to us or not, or they will do both.

“I don’t think that there will be a lot of shops that will close, but then it could affect us all.”

Lisa uses the local Co-op supermarket when she needs to, but feels that the future for Coddy’s Farm Shop and all of the other businesses in and around Holmfirth would be better served in other ways.

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“I think Holmfirth needs a little bit more development in the town centre to make it more of a tourist attraction.

“It seems to have lost that now that Last of the Summer Wine has gone.

“We all need something to look forward to in the future.”

Resaons for a shopping row

Earlier this month about 20 independent retailers placed cardboard, chipboard or blinds over windows to mock up how Holmfirth might look if shoppers and tourists go elsewhere.

Holmfirth has shop vacancy rates below the national average, but traders fear that a proposed Tesco about half-a-mile from the centre could damage trade. Tesco says there’s local support for their plans to build a supermarket on the site of the former Midlothian Garage on New Mill Road and say it will create about 175 jobs, full and part-time.

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Plans to build a Tesco store on the same site were withdrawn in 2009 after a campaign in which residents claimed it would affect the town’s character and cause traffic congestion. A decision is not expected before March.