'It's tough to compete with the big shops'

It will be the busiest time of the year for shops across the country as people prepare for Christmas.

Over the past few years independent business have handled a pandemic and the increase in online shopping, as well as competing against well-known stores, and recently the rise in the cost of living.

In a part of Northamptonshire, the council has supported its High Streets by launching its own festive advert.

How do independent shops on one street there feel about their prospects?

Charlotte Crosser has run Jollys Toys & Games in Thrapston for the past 12 years and says independent businesses have "so much to offer" customers.

"It is the experience of going and meeting a shopkeeper," she says.

"Sometimes you find that item, that you have been looking for, in a physical shop, that is out of stock online or you can't get it, or it will take too long to get to you.

"Independent shops have a really important part to play, in amongst shopping online and with the big shops as well."

She says it has been "a tough year" but that shoppers are "feeling very positive about Christmas".

"People have saved up for Christmas this year, but it's tough to compete with the big shops," she said.

"There are just so many other places that [consumers] can choose, so we're just delighted when they do they do come to us and visit."

Having only taken over the store five weeks ago, Anita Andrews from Forget Me Not, a card and gift shop, says "it's important for people to support local [businesses]".

She says: "You get that personal touch by coming in to the shops and a lot of our customers seem to like that, so you have to rely on that."

Although she has "a lot of loyal supporters of the shop", she adds: "It's the old adage 'use us or lose us'."

Ms Andrews says she has seen "a lot of people who have been trying to shop locally, which is fantastic".

But she says they are not directly competing with big store or online shops.

"I think we're trying to offer our own little touch and make it unique," she said.

"We're not trying to compete with the big online stores, we're individual shops, doing our own thing."

Gill Cowper works in Eden Florists in Thrapston and says the shops on the High Street try to "complement each other".

She says people are coming looking for Christmas ideas "earlier on in the year" and then have come back to buy this month.

"We tend to do the more bespoke, so people can choose what they want and we tend to offer a lot of different things in the shop that you can't get online," she says.

Ms Cowper, who works in the shop two days a week, says it "is a family run business, so without people coming in we wouldn't be surviving".

But she is positive about recent trade, saying: "We've been extremely busy, which is lovely to see."

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