Our local MP, Nicola Blackwood, happened to be in Simon’s News, in East St Helen Street, when I popped in this afternoon. She was presenting Mr Simon Escreet with a certificate, and champagne, as winner of The 2014 Nicola Blackwood Shop Small Awards. The shop had received the most nominations by local people, and the awards were presented on Small Business Saturday.
Just over the road Nicola presented the Runners Up Award to Patisserie Pascal.
Then back over the road again to present another Runners Up award to Galaxy Techno.
So well done to all three shops in East St Helen Street.
Well done to all the small shops, especially Simon’s News, a great little shop, but the manager and all the staff that actually work there should be given the credit.
Hear hear. Well done Paul, Petra, Carol and the others – including the paper-boy or girl who delivers my paper before I get up every morning.
I like Nicola, shame shes a tory
I wonder what it says about Abingdon when of all its excellent small shops the one that wins is the one that sells the drugs related items(all legally I know).I know it is all probably available online but does the fact that it is a small shop make it acceptable even if they sell it legally and it is the purchaser that could use it for other purposes?
it’s legal as you say – people can make their own moral choice.
Why does someone (concerned resident) always have to find a negative in someone else’s positive achievement. I don’t like cigarettes or smoking, but don’t object to a shop selling them if that’s customers’ choice. Providing it is legal people are going to buy it anyway, so why shouldn’t any shop get the business?
This shop has one of the friendliest, most helpful team of staff who will always go the extra mile for you, and deliver hundreds of papers daily, whatever the weather or conditions. So thank you and well done too to the paper boys/girls and all the staff that start work at silly o’clock..
Remember concerned resident that this award was voted for by local people, so you are a bit outnumbered. Perhaps you should find something more important in the town to be concerned about.
…it is an interesting point. But I wonder, should shops (let us not pick on this one in particular) be allowed to get away with, legally, selling highly addictive, proven dangerous, products? Products that damage our children, damage our adults, and cause huge widespread health, social and cultural issues?
Not a bit of harmless hash….I’m talking about refined sugars, hydrogenated fats, palm oils and all the other junk and poison we allow in our food.
A bong….or a bag for pick’n’mix….which one upsets you the most….and which one should really?
Some excellent points made here. @Rudi @Daniel.
To the “Concerned Resident,” I think by age 18 people, as said before, can make their own moral choice. I’ve been in there and they’re all lovely. Small business’ like theirs have to try and maximise their audience to be as wide as possible when times for small shops are hard.
There is a large supermarket on the outskirts of town,they have helpful staff who are working lots of silly o clock shifts,would it be acceptable for them to place next to the sweets a section with bongs,etc,or is that not okay because they are not a small shop?
…it would be OK.
Should the “sausage rolls” be placed behind a sliding screen and not on display for our children to see, with the appropriate health warning on; like cigarettes are?
Think I,d rather it was the cream cakes it would save me the temptation.
I think the point has been lost here, these are 3 of our excellent independent shops in Abingdon. This award was voted for by the public, and if that many people had a problem with it then they would not have got the votes to win.
Everything they sell is legal, otherwise they would not sell it.
Knives are legal, but some people use them to kill people so is it wrong to sell them? Petrol & matches are legal, but some people use them to start fires, so should these be made illegal?
I shop here & have no problem with it, I also know all (most of) the staff very well, the big problem I have is that the award is being presented to the owner, not the staff that work daily from 4am delivering newspapers & working all day til late into the night. It’s odd that he suddenly appears when there is a chance to get his photo taken & get credit for the work of others.
Totally agree with every point made by David. Give credit where it’s due both to the shop and the team who do all the work.
Is there an election coming? The MP crawls out of its nest and appears with the little people. Shameless.
…concerned resident; that’s an interesting and jovial point. I believe some people feel the same way about cocaine!