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The People’s Supermarket

72-78 Lambs Conduit Street, Camden, London WC1N 3LT


Web: http://www.peoplessupermarket.org
Press contact: David Barrie – 0777 5945302

THE PEOPLE’S SUPERMARKET

The People’s Supermarket is a new social enterprise, an Industrial & Provident


Society whose first branch will sell fresh, affordably, locally-sourced food from a
long-vacant retail premises at 72-78 Lamb’s Conduit Street, London WC1N 3LT.

THE STORY SO FAR

Drawing on the support of Park Slope Co-operative in Brooklyn (running since


1974) and following their principles, one of The People’s Supermarket’s key
objectives is to help families and low income groups in the community by
rewarding Members with a discount for an annual membership fee of £25 and a
commitment of 4 hours of their time every month.

The Members will have ongoing training including daily briefings on produce,
there will be supplier and producer visits to the store, together with visits
organised for the Members to go to the producers.

However, The People’s Supermarket is not for the exclusive use of members.
The aim is to convert regular customers to Members when they see the quality
of the produce, the lower prices and the vibrancy of the organisation.

TPS is a new social enterprise, a not for profit co-operative, owned and
operated by and for its members. Profits will be re-invested back to provide
great food at low prices.

The atmosphere is relaxed, interesting, informative and friendly.

The supermarket will offer around 2,000 lines of food and produce with an
emphasis upon products produced on a sustainable and ethical basis in the UK.

The range will include most products that are sold in a mid size mainstream
supermarket, but with a selected simple choice between a standard product and
an alternative one~ which will be healthy and locally sourced.

The People’s Supermarket is not an organic only store, we will stock organic
produce where it is popular, but the focus will be on our core values of
sustainability, British and local produce and seasonality.
There is a large fresh fruit and vegetable section. The meat and fish will be
British raised and caught and sold fresh every day.

There is a dispensary for dry goods and a freshly filtered water fountain, to refill
bottles at a fraction of the normal cost of bottled water.

The shop will sell alcohol, but not tobacco. It will place special emphasis upon
products grown by farmers close to London. The food buying hierarchy is UK
seasonal, European seasonal, then the rest of the world for food that cannot be
sourced in Europe (for example bananas).

The People’s Supermarket has been developed since February 2009. We have
been helped by tremendous support and experience from Andy Munro, Mike
Bennett (Charles Russell LLP), King Sturge, twentyretail, The Plunkett
Foundation, Sustain, the Development Trusts Association (Meanwhile Project),
David Barrie & Associates, IDL Architects, SBM, Florian Eames, Amanda
Galliano, Transition Bloomsbury, the Greenwich Co-operative Development
Agency and Park Slope Food Coop.

The first branch opened in the week of May 31, 2010 at 72/78 Lamb’s Conduit
Street, London WC1N 3LT, following an extensive redesign by a huge team of
volunteers with help from leading contractors.

The site was one of the first Tesco stores 40 years ago. The shop has a sales
area of 2,138 sq ft with 1,846 sq ft of storage in the basement.

The owners of Lamb’s Conduit Street have a long tradition of supporting


independent shops. TPS will be taking part in community events organised by
residents and traders.

The local catchment has two large housing estates where levels of
unemployment are high and also affluent professionals working and living in the
area. TPS will bring diverse groups of locals together, fostering a sense of
community.

The Borough of Camden has a population of 210,000, with a diverse prosperity


and culture.

The People’s Supermarket is operating as an Industrial and Provident Society.


OUR COMMUNITY OBJECTIVES

The People’s Supermarket has a series of aims to:

 Provide people with an opportunity to play a part in the running of their


local shop.
 Extensive community consultation and involvement.
 Through working closely with the London Borough of Camden we are
providing employment for young people that have suffered
disproportionately from the recession.
 Experience gained by working at TPS will secure opportunities to develop
key skills.
 If people are to lead healthier lives, to form new businesses and look after
themselves, they can be inspired by places and experiences.
 To provide information to help people make healthy decisions.
 To demonstrate that the sourcing of product and the careful management
of waste in food shops can lead to innovation of the sustainability of food
systems.
 To address the impact of international food distribution in carbon
production, by a shift towards local sourcing.
 Increase consumer interest in food provenance and British agriculture.
 Members from all walks of life can benefit from great value food, with high
food standards, by working together.
 To value the contribution of everyone and provide inspirational training.
 Buying from trusted suppliers, so that we can foster long term
relationships that are mutually fair. The suppliers have to fulfil set criteria
to ensure they reflect and uphold the values that are central to TPS~ for
example to their soil and animal husbandry. Carrots will be judged on
flavour rather than appearance. We hope to restore the connection
between producers and consumers.
 Minimise wastage, buying sustainable energy.
 To promote alternative and forward thinking ideas and solutions.
 Members views will directly affect what produce is to be offered.
 It is hoped that affordable and healthy food will help counter obesity ( it is
currently estimated that by 2015 over 20% of the children in the Borough
of Camden will be obese).
 Work placements are being offered to 16 unemployed 18/ 25 year olds,
structured to lead to qualifications, which is being supported through
Social Enterprise London.
 The Board are committed to sharing the lessons learnt on the challenges
of establishing a community enterprise. Presentations have already been
given to SHINE 2010 - the Social Entrepreneurs Conference and to Chain
Reaction 2009.
 An innovative retail enterprise can create social value in an area (Park
Slope in Brooklyn, Body Shop in Brighton and Neal’s Yard in Covent
Garden).
 TPS has been structured to be financially sustainable and not grant
dependent.
 Lamb’s Conduit Street is intended to inspire other communities across the
UK to set up their own TPS.

THE PEOPLE’S SUPERMARKET BOARD

Kate Wickes-Bull
A Director of CTWB Retail Consultancy, specialising in maximising commercial
potential in retail environments. Kate has worked for a variety of high street
multiples, independents and the third sector, through to museums and art
centres. Kate was at M & S for 20 years, before setting up her consultancy. For
the last 5 years Kate has been a volunteer tutor and trainer for the NHS Expert
Patient Programme.

Andrew Thornton
Runs branches of food retailer Budgens in Crouch End and Belsize Park, for
which he has won many awards including National Independent and
Environmental Retailer of the Year. A former employee of Mars, Andrew has
provided advice as a consultant to Somerfield, Sainsburys, M & S, Musgrave,
Unilever, Diageo and Northern Foods.His approach at Budgens is focussed on
the community and fostering small and local food producers.

Arthur Potts Dawson


Outstanding experience in the food industry. As a chef, Arthur has worked with
the Roux Brothers and at restaurants including Kensington Place and the River
Café. As a creative and social entrepreneur he was central to the foundation of
Acorn House and Waterhouse Restaurants in London, led the creative direction
of several outlets of the Soho House Group and was a key member of the team
that created Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen. Arthur is a passionate advocate of practical,
healthy eating and as a London Leader 2009 for the Sustainable Development
Commission, showed his committment to putting in motion solutions to some of
the most pressing problems in London.

Richard Wassell
Involved in commercial property for 25 years. In 2005 he formed twentyretail
to provide bespoke advice to retail and restaurant brands and also to landlords
ranging from private individuals to quoted property companies. Richard has
created several companies from scratch over the last 10 years. He has a broad
range of experience across the voluntary, recruitment, funding and retail
sectors.

All the Board are advocates for healthy eating and are committed to pioneering
environmental issues and community support.
KEY FACTS/DATES

 Lease agreed on premises in Lamb’s Conduit Street on 7th May 2010.


 Opens week of 31st May 2010 for trading, with a community event on 12 th
June 2010
 Participation in ‘Co-operatives Fortnight’ on 19th June.
 Events on local housing estates in Camden 22nd and 31st July and on-
going.
 Started with a mixture of public and private sector funding.
 Funders include London Borough of Camden, The Development Trusts
Association (Meanwhile Project) and private donations.
 Local organisations involved in and consulted in the start-up of the venture
include Circle 33 Housing Trust, Community Food Gyms, CSV, Disability in
Camden, Food Cycle, GOSH, NHS Camden, Origin Housing, Single
Homeless Project, Transition Bloomsbury, the Calthorpe Project
Community Garden, Disability in Camden, University College London and
The Mary Ward Centre.
 Media partners include Channel 4 Television and Ebury Publishing.
 Leading professionals from the worlds of social enterprise, urban
development, food retailing and property have provided support through
significant pro-bono advice.
 There has been exceptional support and encouragement from a wide
range of individuals to large companies including;

Bonds, Sens, IDL Architects, Wanzl, RD Electrics, ADL, PLS, Bond Cleaning
Services, Mace, Gleeds, Charles Rusesell LLP, Co-operatives UK, Clare
Pritchard from Greenwich Cooperative Development Agency, Verdict
Research, igloo Regeneration, Borough Market, King Sturge, Unreal
Design, Membra, Booker Commercial

Within a 700m radius of the site there are 7,500 households with a population
of 15,000 people. There is a working daytime population of 73,200.

Over 50% of these residents are identified as ‘Welfare Borderline’, typically


families with young children on very low incomes and relying upon state
benefits. Many are dependent on public transport and therefore rely on local
and cheap shopping.

Around 40% are identified as ‘Urban Intelligent’ ~typically young singles,


students or professionals living in rented shared flats. Many of the recent
graduates are heavily in debt. This group are often open minded, with a high
awareness of brand values with cosmopolitan tastes and an emphasis on
authenticity.
The balance are mainly ‘Established Families’, usually with older independent
children. They often live in large houses and make high value purchases and a
strong brand loyalty.

We believe that The People’s Supermarket can serve all of these people.

We conducted research into the demand for a co-operatively run local


supermarket in discussions with local residents, in consultation with 14 local
organisations and through Facebook and Twitter. And it is clear that there is a
very strong demand for a robust alternative to existing supermarkets.

CORE PARTNERS

Core partners in The People’s Supermarket include

London Borough of Camden, The Governing Body of Rugby School (premises


landlords), the Development Trusts Association (Meanwhile Project) and
Transition Bloomsbury.

Channel 4 Television has commissioned a series of television programmes to tell


the story of the creation of The People’s Supermarket and its initial trading.

Ebury Publishing/Virgin Books is planning The People’s Cookbook which will


feature healthy and fun recipes using ingredients sold in the shop.

For any further information please contact


David Barrie
David Barrie & Associates
david@davidbarrie.net

29th May 2010

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