Auchencairn Initiative are planning for the Shop / Café to become a Community enterprise. Vicky and James have done a phenomenal job of creating a community hub and thriving business since 2019. They have now decided that this is the time to step down as leaseholders and work with us to help us to maintain and develop the services the shop currently offers through an alternative way of working. Their aim and ours is ‘business as usual’ and as a customer you will see little or no difference.
Our plan is to develop a community business which has both paid staff and volunteers. Profits will be returned to the Initiative to be used to benefit the village. We are currently looking at the legal framework to do this and will need to form a Community Benefit Society with a Board of Directors. We are keen to involve any residents with business, retail, legal and accounting expertise. We need to be confident and are legally bound to ensure that Auchencairn residents support this way forward. To this end we will be holding consultations. One will be on our website, one in the community garden and one in the village hall. We welcome general comments/ideas and offers of help outside of these consultations.
Many communities are successfully running their own shop/café/PO. We will be starting from a strong base in Auchencairn as the village, through the Initiative, already owns the shop premises and the equipment. The current business model is proving very successful. Our aim is to preserve the current services and the staff and volunteers. Vicky is keen to continue as a member of staff, at least in the short term. We will be having separate discussions with the Post Office and we hope there will be an opportunity for a local person to solely manage this service 2 or 3 mornings a week.
The shop has become a vital hub for the village and we do need your support in order to maintain this. A Community Enterprise enables profits to be invested in local projects through Auchencairn Initiative. Please keep visiting our website and see the noticeboard outside the shop for details of consultations.
