From publicans to greengrocers, this couple launched a new business in lockdown

More than a month after Mike Schofield was forced to temporarily close the pub that he and wife Donna have run for eight years, the couple set up two wooden shelving units outside of its doors for the first day of a makeshift pop-up shop.

Stacked upon them were a range of fruit and vegetables available for their community to purchase. And, though they did not foresee it then, those very shelves were the foundation for a new business venture that four months on remains popular in the area of Harrogate that they call their home.

The pair, who run The Shepherd’s Dog on Otley Road, decided to launch the grocery store in May after struggling to get their hands on fresh produce during the coronavirus lockdown. “I thought it would probably just be selling the odd cucumber, tomato and lettuce here and there,” Mike says. “But in fact it has turned into quite a good business, with people using it everyday to get fresh ingredients rather than having to buy in bulk or in plastic wrapping.”

It’s an alternative option, he says, to going to the supermarket or travelling to access another greengrocers. “It’s quite a mature and ageing community up here and people are not liking getting on public transport anymore and a lot of them don’t have cars.”

Mike, who previously worked in former greengrocer shops in the area in his teenage years, and later went on to become a greengrocery manager for Co-op and Sainsbury’s, hoped the venture would help provide him and his family with an income whilst the pub was closed and his staff were on furlough. “If the pub was to fail, we don’t just lose our livelihood, we lose our house as well,” he says.

Come July, with demand high and stock growing, he and Donna took over a unit a stone’s throw from the pub and turned it into Wharfedale Fruiterers. They’ve signed a five-year lease on the site and Mike’s working with a supplier to keep the shop open and filled with fresh produce six days a week and has teamed up with local businesses to stock eggs, ice cream, cheese and yoghurt too.

Deliveries are also available, covering the local community and surrounding areas as far as Dacre, Markington and Spofforth. And a gazebo and serving point outside means those who do not yet feel comfortable venturing indoors can still access what’s on offer.

“What I thought would just be a hobby, sat reading a newspaper, turned into a good little business,” Mike, 46, muses. “I’m pleasantly surprised. It’s quieter now [lockdown restrictions] have eased slightly but it’s still better than I ever could have anticipated.”

Mike, who lives above The Shepherd’s Dog with Donna and two children Mollie, 14, and Harry, 10, reopened the pub at the start of the month. “The pub was on its knees when we first took it on [eight years ago],” he recalls. “You see pubs close down in communities and then you see communities start to deteriorate...

“I do believe that a pub is the hub of a community and we thought let’s go for it. We had a lot of backing from a lot of the locals. We have done with both ventures...We’ve picked the pub up before and I’m sure we can do it again.”

Though Mike says he is running the pub and shop as two separate businesses, he says he is now able to draw his own salary from the latter, leaving more money in the pot of the former as it gets back on its feet. “It’s about keeping all the [pub] staff in jobs because trying to get a job at this time is going to be horrendous. If I can keep my team with an income, then I know I’ve stood by them. We want to retain everybody,” he says.

“I think this [new grocery business] has worked because there was a niche in the market here. I also see a big wave now of people trying to get communities back on their feet and shopping locally. I think people realise the value that adds.”

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James Mitchinson