Our Story So Far

The History of Findon Village Store 

Findon Village Store is truly a Community Shop, bought and manned by the community, for the benefit of the community, located at the heart of Findon.  Many risks have been taken along the way, but, such has been the commitment from local residents, they have paid off and we are now a thriving and successful enterprise.  We have won awards, notably the ‘Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service’.

To read more of how we have got to the place where we are now, read on …

Early Days

On May 29th 2017 the previous owners, without warning, shut the Findon Village Store and Post Office, sacked the staff by telephone, and announced that they were putting the Grade 2 building up for sale at Auction on the 28th June.

Any village shop is a lifeline to many villagers, and within 3 days of the closure a public meeting was called by Peter Goldsworthy, Chair of Findon Parish Council, to discuss a response to what was a real calamity for the village. The Village Hall was packed to overflowing, and it was quickly decided to attempt a fundraising effort to buy the shop and premises back as a village asset.

On June 12th, another public meeting was held to outline the manner and detail of fundraising. We knew that a minimum of £400,000 was needed before the Auction on June 30th, so it was a question of ‘Buy it or Lose it’.

Peter Goldsworthy was appointed Chairman of this new venture. Then we proceeded with the necessary details to ensure that we could re-open our village shop. We had to contact the Post Office to ensure that a new licence to operate the Post Office counter would be forthcoming.  Thankfully, they agreed.

Shares were offered to all residents at £1000/share, and share commitment forms rapidly printed and circulated throughout the village. The Plunkett Foundation, which advises communities who wish to purchase village assets like shops and pubs, helped us register a new company named ‘Findon Village Collective Ltd’, which had to be registered with the Financial Conduct Authority before the expected completion purchase date of 30th July.  That happened on 20th July.  Everything was very tight!

Between June 12th and the auction on June 30th (18 days!), we raised £440,000, and the premises were bought at auction for £350,000, leaving enough funds to re-equip the shop (which had been totally stripped of all shelving and equipment}.  A further £40,000 was contributed before the completion date of July 30th. All the funds raised were lodged with Findon Parish Council, as until the new company opened a bank account, there was nowhere to keep this very sizeable fund.

Findon Village Collective Ltd was first registered as a Community Benefit Society in July 2017.

We had 367 member/shareholders, who were all proud to have helped ‘save the shop’!

A Management Committee was recruited during early July with the necessary skills to appoint staff, raise a volunteer army, and put the new company on an organised and legal footing to start the process of refurbishing and re-equipping the shop.

The shop staff, management committee and volunteers worked tirelessly to completely refurbish and re-equip the shop, and we had an initial opening on 28th October, and a proper celebration, once the shop was fully stocked and operating, on December 3rd 2017

This story is one of a village community coming together, extraordinarily quickly, to save a valuable village asset, now operated for the benefit of the village.

The Next Few Years

After successfully steering our Village Shop through the first couple years and ensuring it was running smoothly and was a viable concern for the years ahead, Peter Goldsworthy stood down as Chairman in April 2019, handing over to Steve Smith.

Our Village Shop was now operating at a profit, thanks to the ‘army’ of volunteers, the management committee, and the hard work of employed staff.

We had always intended that profits would be used for the benefit of organisations within the village that needed financial assistance and support.

Over the last few years, the Village Shop has made various donations, including Findon Village Pre-school, Findon Swimming Pool, Findon Village Christmas Lights, Christmas hampers for those in need, Findon Village School and Findon Village Hall.

Due to the age of our building and its listed status, we have had to in the maintenance of the property, including the rental flat situated above the shop.

Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service

It was announced on the day of Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee that Findon Village Collective Ltd had been awarded the ‘Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service’.  

The presentation of this Award was made in October 2022, by the Lord Lieutenant for West Sussex, Lady Emma Barnard, supported by three deputies, one of whom was Hugh Bonneville!.

In May 2023, Steve Smith and Becky Fagan (a Committee member} were invited to attend the first garden party at Buckingham Palace after the coronation of King Charles III in recognition of our award.

Moving on

In May 2022, Patrick Colville took over as Chairman of the Management Committee.

Findon Village Store and Post Office was recognised as an ‘Asset of the Community’ by Arun District Council in 2023.  This means that the community would be given extra time to put together a realistic bid to purchase the property if Findon Village Collective Ltd ever decided to sell.