Ihopewecan support small businesses once again
with Blaise Tapp
Like everybody else, I have been learning to make the most of life’s small pleasures again, given that our once packed social calendar has been wiped clean until further notice. Catching up with old pals, discovering that I quite like gardening after all and finding out that I actually don’t mind sitting on the sofa to watch telly with the missus have been among the many highlights of the past three months.
As nice as it is to spend much more time with the family, the unavoidable truth is that this simpler life is, quite frankly, more than a little boring.
To give some context to my life right now, I am not ashamed to confess that last week I was as excited as I have been during lockdown when I took possession of a very special delivery – a box of eight pies.
My excitement levels were comparable to those experienced by a six-year-old on Christmas Eve or me and millions of others at the start of a new football season – you know, back in the days when the game was played in front of packed stadiums.
These were not any old pies, but the finest pies the North, if not the UK, has to offer, delivered from deepest darkest Cheshire, to my front door.
Made by a very clever old school pal of mine, I have not had the privilege of sampling his work for more than six years, but it was well worth the wait, not to mention the 220-mile journey from the Motherland of filled pastry products.
As a pie aficionado, I haven’t had too many complaints about the offerings served up to me during my six years in the South, but these beauties are award winners and found their way onto my dinner plate via the magic of the internet.
Although I have been getting to the shops during lockdown, like pretty much everybody else I know, I have become increasingly reliant on online purchases, especially for birthdays and clothes for my children.
Although smaller firms, like the ones owned by my friend, have a significant internet presence, inevitably it is the big online retailers who are reaping the benefits of the shuttered economy – I am now on waving terms with the lady who delivers for Amazon locally.
This must be a genuine concern for those smaller employers who are preparing to reopen their doors in the coming weeks.
Prior to the madness, I was a fully paid-up member of the ‘Shop Local’ club but the lockdown has severely limited the choice of shoppers, who, if they need a product quickly, will turn to the big boys, rather than hunt around.
Personally, I cannot wait for local high streets to reopen as they really are the beating heart of every community but you cannot help fear for their future, considering that there is still so much apprehension among large sections of the population, who have decided to follow the lead of Dominic Cummings and exercise their own judgement.
There are a significant number of us who are declining the Government’s cautious invitation to venture outside more, because we listen to the concerns of leading scientists about the gradual easing of lockdown.
None of this is good for shopping centres everywhere, but when we can get out in big numbers, I only hope we can support the smaller businesses which make our nation tick.