Bishopthorpe Road - how this popular high street in York is getting back on its feet

Carol Costello of Costellos Good Food Shop on Bishopthorpe Road. (Gary Longbottom).Carol Costello of Costellos Good Food Shop on Bishopthorpe Road. (Gary Longbottom).
Carol Costello of Costellos Good Food Shop on Bishopthorpe Road. (Gary Longbottom).
There’s a sculpture at the corner of Bishopthorpe Road in York which represents community.

When winter comes, some kind soul knits the family of figures a set of clothes to see them through until spring. This year, they haven’t shed their woolly cloaks and while one of them is now holding an NHS rainbow, the sculpture has come to symbolise something else – the enforced hibernation of many of the shops on the bustling parade nearby.

Just a handful of the 30 or so stores on Bishy Road as it’s known to locals belong to large chains and with the rest thriving independents, it has often been held up as a blueprint for the Great British high street. When coronavirus arrived, signs appeared in many of the shop windows promising they would be back just as soon as it was safe, but even this resilient group of independent traders knew that nothing was guaranteed.

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For M&K Butchers, lockdown came just a few weeks after it celebrated its 50th anniversary. This year was supposed to be one of celebration, but instead the Kneafsey family suddenly found themselves having to quickly redesign their business model.

Matthew Kneasey from M and K Butchers. (Gary Longbottom).Matthew Kneasey from M and K Butchers. (Gary Longbottom).
Matthew Kneasey from M and K Butchers. (Gary Longbottom).

“Our wholesale arm supplies schools and universities and that disappeared overnight,” says Matthew, who along with brother Simon are the business’ second generation. “It also quickly became obvious that people were struggling to get shopping. There was nothing we could do about our wholesale contracts, but we knew we could help our customers by launching a home delivery service.”

The brothers admit they can’t rival Ocado and in lieu of a fancy website, orders are taken by email or over the phone. However, what they do offer is a personal service.

“We don’t have a minimum price order. If someone only wants half a dozen sausages that’s fine because this was never about making as much money as we can; it was about looking after customers who have been loyal to us.”

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With a small reduction in opening hours, the money saved on wages meant they were able to keep all staff who wanted to keep working, employed throughout lockdown. Like all the Bishy Road traders it is unclear how the ‘new normal’ will impact the business long-term, but they remain optimistic about the future.

Gaynor Parr-Manley one of the partners in Noun.Gaynor Parr-Manley one of the partners in Noun.
Gaynor Parr-Manley one of the partners in Noun.

“We are on first name terms with a lot of our customers,” adds Matthew. “They come in for a chat as much as anything and obviously the atmosphere in the shop has changed as we can only have one person in at a time. We hope to keep the home delivery side of things going as that has been a real success and we will keep adapting. If we can survive the last few months, we can survive anything.”

If M&K are Bishy Road veterans, Noun is the parade’s baby. The boutique gift shop is a collaboration between Ellie McManaman and Gaynor Parr-Manley, who previously ran separate stores in the street. The pair marked Noun’s first anniversary during lockdown and say the time away from the shop finally allowed them to get their website up and running.

“These have been by far and away our bestseller,” says Ellie, pointing to a row of handwashes with names like Kick Ass and Dancing in the Kitchen. “We ordered them a little while ago, but as soon as lockdown happened they suddenly felt very relevant. In those early weeks we knew how difficult people were finding it not seeing friends and family, so we began offering ‘care packages’ where people could put together a bespoke gift box for someone they love. That’s the real advantage of being an independent. You can be flexible and instantly adapt to a situation.”

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Noun is currently open four days a week with reduced hours to allow for cleaning and Gaynor says the response of the local community has more than compensated for the uncertainty of the last few months.

Chris Reith from The Bishy Weigh. (Gary Longbottom).Chris Reith from The Bishy Weigh. (Gary Longbottom).
Chris Reith from The Bishy Weigh. (Gary Longbottom).

“One woman made a point of coming in just to tell us that she was so glad that we had been able to reopen. We have definitely felt the love of our customers and that makes all the effort worth it.”

Stories like that are one of the reasons why Bishy Road was named Britain’s Best High Street in 2015. At the time judges praised the Traders Association’s forward-thinking attitude, which resulted in an annual street party, a website to promote the area and a crowdfunding initiative to pay for Christmas lights.

Julia and Steve Holding, who run the Pig and Pastry cafe, were among the traders who drove the change. Opening just as the credit crunch bit in 2008, at the time Bishy Road was home to a Bargain Booze and a greasy spoon cafe. Both those businesses were soon replaced by family-friendly eateries and prior to lockdown it was often hard to get a seat at the Pig and Pastry as locals queued for plates of smashed avocado and artisan chorizo. Those scenes are unlikely to be repeated for months, possibly, years to come.

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“The cafe was about sharing tables with strangers,” says Julia. “It was about squeezing onto a bench and striking up a conversation with someone you’d never met before. Social distancing makes that impossible, so we’ve decided to turn it into a takeaway. Customers will come in the front door and out the back. It won’t be the same, but then what will?”

In between redesigning the cafe the Holdings, along with various other foodie businesses and a small army of volunteers, spent much of lockdown running the Supper Collective delivering 1,400 meals a week to the isolated and vulnerable. The service was wound down at the end of June, but Julia is keen to do more social enterprises.

“The Supper Collective showed what can be achieved when people come together,” she says. “After 12 years, it now feels like we are starting again. However, we love what we do and we know that we will find a way through.”

Food is big business on Bishy Road. More than half the units are occupied by foodie shops, cafes and restaurants. The Good Food Shop is typical of them. Run by Carol Costello, who gave up corporate life to take over the already-popular deli three years ago, she kept trading through lockdown but is honest about the difficulties.

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“We managed to keep open selling bread from a local bakery. It’s a loss leader for me, but I thought it was important to keep open if I could. Online ordering isn’t really an option for a business like this as the stock changes so often. I know it hasn’t been easy for customers to shop from me through lockdown, but one woman gave me £25 as a token of appreciation and every day I’m open one gentleman has purposely come to spend at least £10 to show his support.”

Many of the traders say they wouldn’t have survived without the financial support offered by the Government and lockdown also bought some of the shopkeepers time to think about the future that they rarely had before coronavirus.

“We hadn’t a week away from the business for 10 years,” says Richard Bothamley, who runs Setting the Scene florists with his partner Glenn Hamilton. “It’s been good to have time to stop and think about what’s important.

“This time of year we’d normally be really busy supplying flowers for York Racecourse and the wedding season. Who knows how long it will take for those kind of events to get back to normal? But I think we are quite pragmatic. Every independent business is in the same boat and we feel very fortunate to be supported by the other traders.”

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Optimism and hard work, however, will only go so far and the next hurdle facing Bishy Road is far more visible than the virus which turned Britain’s high streets into ghost towns. Many of the traders are worried that if a new one-way system introduced during lockdown becomes permanent it will adversely affect footfall and the coffers of the Trader Association are running low.

“We weren’t able to hold our AGM because of lockdown and the truth is there isn’t much money left in the pot,” says Lucy Hjort, who opened fine dining restaurant Melton’s in 1990 when there was still a sex shop on Bishy Road.

“The association was set up the year before the Tour de France came to Yorkshire to look at ways to make the most of the event. It was absolutely instrumental in us winning Britain’s Best High Street, but it’s obviously hard to keep up that momentum.

“Our bunting needs replacing, but we simply don’t have the funds. A lot of traders are exhausted and I think we probably just need to get through to the end of the year and then regroup.”

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Even a thriving high street cannot escape the current shadow of uncertainty, but together the traders are offering something that money can’t buy.

“I live nearby and I know how special this street is,” says Alice Hildred, who opened dry grocers Bishy Weigh 18 months ago. “Everyone does their own thing, but they are bound together by a rare community spirit.”

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