The significant social benefits of rural community-owned businesses shone through during a joint visit by Plunkett UK and Southern Co-op to Hampshire earlier this month.
At a challenging time for the retail and hospitality sectors – with rising costs, staffing issues and changing consumer trends – The Boundary Shop and Café in St Mary Bourne and The Plough Inn, Longparish are proving how to make a success through community-owned businesses.
Hannah Barrett, Partnerships Manager at Plunkett UK, and Becky Longyear, Community Lead at Southern Co-op, spent time talking with committee members and staff, and seeing the businesses in action.
Hannah and Becky discovered how both places create welcoming, socially-connected hubs that offers jobs and volunteering opportunities, while working hard to stay financially sustainable.
The Boundary and The Plough Inn are Plunkett members, benefitting from specialist business advice for them and over 850 community businesses across the country. As partners of Plunkett, Southern Co-op supports their work through the Co-operative Retail Societies Network – a collaboration that funds, shares knowledge, and strengthens the rural community business sector.
The Boundary Shop Manager Vicky Pettit showing their shop range to Plunkett UK’s Hannah Barrett (centre) and Becky Longyear of Southern Co-op
The Boundary Shop Manager Vicky Pettit with Dave Burlison from their committee in conversation with Plunkett UK’s Hannah Barrett and Becky Longyear of Southern Co-op in the café seating area.
Bringing people together in St Mary Bourne
The Boundary Shop and Café has been trading in the picturesque surroundings of St Mary Bourne since 2022.
It’s a place where people of all ages can feel at home. Older people meet friends meaning they don’t feel so lonely and isolated during the day. Young people can volunteer and work in the café, which helps their socials skills and allows them to get some grounding in the retail industry.
Dave Burlison, Committee Member, explained, “As a community we have recently doubled the amount of car parking space we’ve got and there’s a brand-new play area and a multi-use field. People then come and use our shop. So, the whole thing works in unison between the pub, village centre, community shop and cafe, car parking and play area.”
Shop manager Vicky Pettit shares duties alongside café manager, Sandra Grunsell. Vicky said: “The atmosphere here is just amazing! It’s a happy environment. You get to catch up people, chat and see how they’re doing.”
Dave added: “It’s now become the hub where people want to be. And because we’re fortunate that we can expand areas and we’re offering more, hopefully that’ll keep people coming along.”
Becky from Southern Co-op commented:
“I think it’s incredible what they’ve managed to do here. The café part brings people together; the shop is supporting locals, and then you’ve got the post office, which is a very big thing for people where banks are closing. It’s a really good support for the community to come together and get what they need.”
Hannah from Plunkett added:
“The shop and café have 12 staff positions, but also another 45 to 50 volunteers. That’s bringing a huge amount to those local people and the local economy, providing residents with the opportunities to upskill, but also to socialise and to give back to their community.”
Creating a buzz in Longparish
The Plough Inn has been a fixture of the village of Longparish since 1721 and was saved from being sold to a property developer by the community, who celebrated owning the pub in 2021. After renovation and refurbishment, it has now been trading under community ownership for more than four years.
Andy Jolliffe, Committee Chair, said, “The biggest impact of the pub is that we regularly have a thriving, busy place with a great atmosphere, which is loved by locals and people from far away. I think the biggest benefit since we’ve reopened is seeing so many locals here on a Friday night, catching up and strengthening that genuine sense of village community”.
Jeremy Barber, Committee Treasurer, said, “It’s been a long journey and we’ve had a lot of learning opportunities, but we’re now emerging from start-up to business as usual.” Andy added, “Our challenge is to continue to maintain the level of business we have today. We have a fantastic reputation and we’re benefiting from that, but we don’t take that for granted.”
The Plough Inn, Longparish – now community-owned for five years
Andy and Jeremy explained that The Plough Inn is committed to supporting young people with job opportunities – often their first jobs. It’s also a place where older people can get company, including one regular in his 80s who travels each day from the other end of the village to the pub on his mobility scooter!
As Hannah from Plunkett observed, “It’s a place for individuals and families to come. You can cross that threshold and talk to anyone else. And it’s that social impact, that social benefit, that’s really important.”
From left to right: Jeremy Barber and Andy Jolliffe, committee members of The Plough Inn, Longparish, in conversation with Plunkett UK’s Hannah Barrett and Becky Longyear of Southern Co-op
“The main reason Southern Co-op partners with Plunkett is how invested it is in the community.
Community is a very big part of Southern Co-op and the way Plunkett helps people to get experience through supporting the community with shops, cafés and pubs is brilliant.”
Becky Longyear, Community Lead at Southern Co-op
