The Headingley Greengrocer is one year old this week. It was bought by Headingley Development Trust (HDT) at the end of April 2019 from the Harris family, continuing a tradition of offering high-quality fruit and veg with great service that goes back a century; a greengrocer has traded on the site since 1918.
When HDT re-opened the shop under community ownership it never imagined it would now be trading in such challenging times, but thanks to its loyal customers and the commitment and hard work of its staff, it has stayed open and continues to offer a vital service.
Like many smaller shops it has reorganised the way it works with service from a counter in the doorway and staff minimising contact, and customers queuing at two-metre intervals down the street. And Jane Williams who does the ordering for the shop has worked hard with its suppliers to still ensure great produce. “Prices on some items are still variable due to supply issues” she says, “but our aim is to keep a very wide range of stock to suit a range of budgets.” Critically, in these troubled times, it is providing nine jobs, its four senior staff joined by five more workers.
But it is not just serving its immediate neighbourhood: it provides donations of fresh food every week to Rainbow Junktion at Hyde Park and Meeting Point in Armley, and has made financial donations to organisations helping some of the most vulnerable.
Says Emma Crossley from Meeting Point, “As a small charity supporting refugees and asylum seekers on the front line, we have remained determined to keep providing a service to our beneficiaries during the Covid-19 pandemic. To have a regular and consistent donation of fresh fruit and vegetables of such high quality, has been amazing and has meant every food parcel given out has fresh produce in it. For many who attend, we are their only source of fresh food and, particularly given the current circumstances, a lifeline for a number of them.”
The Headingley Greengrocer looks forward to being here and thriving for many years to come. Together with its sister shop opposite, The Natural Food Store, which is also community owned, and Headingley Farm Butcher next door, it is testament to the fact that the High Street is very much alive and is a critical part of the local community particularly in these most difficult times.
Helen Seymour, The Headingley Greengrocer
50 North Lane, Leeds LS6 3HU
0113 275 2113
https://theheadingleygreengrocer.co.uk/
