I spent this afternoon visiting my first ever shop. I bought this place when I was 24 using my graduate loan as a deposit and then borrowed the rest of the money from the bank. It was a calculated risk as I had worked in my parents shop for a couple of years and it also meant I could move out on my parents as there was a flat above!

I sold the lease a number of years before but kept the freehold, I always thought that if it did ever go bump I could open it back up myself, little did I know what would be going on in the world when it did back in April 2022.

i was called to the shop one day last april as the gas company was there to remlove the gas meter. It turned out the current tenant had not done a change of tenancy, the tenant before him was in dispute with the supplier. He was out of the country so i went down and manage to buy him a couple of weeks time to sort it out. Sadly he didnt so a couple of weeks later the meter was removed, as you can imagine there is not a lot you can do in a fish and chip shop without gas!

With the cost of utilities, fish and other supplies I decided to mothball the shop until things settle down. I also was faced with an electricity bill of nearly £16,000. Working with the utility company I managed to resolve the bill and the gas bill for twelve months standing charge (which I successfully argued I cant be charged for as there was no meter for gas!) That was the start of breathing life into the shop!

Today we had a big step forward as the gas meter was reinstalled, at a cost of £2000 but at least it is in! We are not up and running yet but I will be working with the new tenant to get the shop recommisioned and back open to serve the village of Coppull!

The next job is to get the extraction cleaned to ensure there are no birds nets or any build up of grease to make sure we dont get any fires. We will then get the range serviced and recommisioned before giving it a big clean throughout.

Lots left to do but we will follow the progress of this shop as it opens and hopefully see it become a success again! Watch this space!