The last year has been one interesting journey. Until 12 months ago I, Rob was a successful marketing manager for a large financial services company. Alison (Ali) had previously worked for the same organisation but had been at home for a while taking care of our two children. We lived on the outskirts of Birmingham in a 3 bed semi and I did the daily commute either into center of Birmingham or to one of the London or regional offices of my employer.
Then life suddenly took a 180 degree turn. I took redundancy and we moved to a small Staffordshire village called Elford and re-opened the old village shop – what a departure and what a beginning of a journey.
We are now a year down the line and thanks to the great support of family, friends and the villagers we have a great little shop up an running again and providing the village with a re-added sense of community within our walls (and on the pavement outside).
We have started this blog as our journey has had its ups and downs, its highs and its lows, but so far has been a life changing experience and one we would like to continue to share with anyone either embarking on a similar journey or already on the road and whom would like to be part of our new on-line community and support the fight for survival and development of village stores up and down the country and indeed further afield.
Village stores and businesses have an important role to play in the rural community as we have found and we are proud to be part of this. We hope this blog will lead to the sharing of ideas and support for others and ultimately help the voice of the rural business to be heard.
We look forward to your input and support.
Best wishes
Rob & Ali
