00:00It's a lovely small community and I hope it will continue. I'm afraid if it
00:06doesn't continue, if it continues in the same rate of deterioration we'll have to
00:12close. My name is John Hockt from Colwyn Heath Nursery. I am 81 and I feel about
00:2295 at the moment. I took this up on approximately 27 years ago. It will take
00:29a few months. It was very poor run-down business when I started but over the
00:35last few years I've built it up and done it up. Since I've taken the shop over
00:40trade of course has deteriorated but that's probably due to the supermarkets.
00:45But I offer a personal service. My fruit and veg are very fresh. I go to the
00:52wholesale market most mornings between four and five o'clock to obtain fresh
00:57produce. The problem with the supermarket food is it's not quite so
01:02fresh. I know it's a lot cheaper but sometimes it's better to pay a little
01:07bit more for fresh produce. Now a lot of my customers I've known for a long time
01:1325, 26, 27 years and we have a very friendly personal relationship and I
01:21appreciate their customer very much.
01:25Plums left? None of your big plums?
01:27I think there might be one down there.
01:39The most favourite things I have about working in this job selling this
01:45produce is the customers. I have a fantastic friendliness with the
01:52customers. They appreciate me. I appreciate that and we really get on
01:57very very well and I hope they will continue to come in because I will
02:01appreciate it and I really enjoy their company. I enjoy chatting to them. I've
02:08got a number of customers who come in especially just for the chat, especially
02:12if they're getting older and they enjoy the chats and talking about life in
02:16general. One or two of them like to reminisce about the old days
02:22and I really appreciate that and enjoy it. I am hopeful we can keep on, keep
02:27open and keep selling our fresh produce. We have quite a few elderly customers.
02:32One or two of them rely on me for deliveries because they have trouble
02:37getting out. In fact I have trouble myself sometimes. I was getting up in the
02:41morning at four o'clock. It's very difficult to keep small shops open. I'm
02:49sure as people realise many many small shops have closed recently and I think
02:55it will continue unless people support the local shops. The local shops are here
03:01for their benefit, not only mine to make a living, but for their benefit as well
03:07because we're very handy, producing very fresh and very good and we certainly
03:12appreciate their custom and we like to give a nice service and I hope in the
03:17future we can carry on but I must admit it just seems as if it's going to be a
03:22struggle and I would be really grateful if people could come and support us and
03:27give us a little bit more customers just to keep going and I think my staff would
03:33appreciate it as well. It's a lovely small community and I hope it will
03:38continue. I'm afraid if it continues in the same rate of
03:45deterioration we'll have to close. I certainly hope it won't because I
03:49certainly enjoy my job. I enjoy virtually everything I do in this shop and
03:54speaking to the customers and chatting to the customers. I'd like to take this
03:58opportunity to thank my customers for supporting me over the last 12-18
04:06months because it's been very difficult to keep this small shop open.
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