Plans for Tesco to open a branch of Timpson have been scrapped – after locals rallied to protect the local cobbler.
Villagers in Bishops Cleeve launched a petition to block the supermarket’s planning application for the key cutting and repair store.
Locals raised worries for the cobbler shop, Macdonald, with owner Alan saying the new unit would have made it ‘difficult’ for his business.
Resident Gemma Surman decided to start a petition asking the supermarket to withdraw the planning application, collecting more than 1,000 signatures.
When the application was due to be discussed at a parish council meeting, Tesco confirmed it would not be progressing.
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Alan, 62, said: ‘It is a weight off my mind. I don’t make a massive amount of money here. I make a living. Even a small amount of my income that disappears would make it very difficult to survive.’
Alan said as soon as the petition was shared on Facebook, the community went ‘mad’.
But it’s not just about his shop, Alan said – the application got 80 objections from others.
‘It is a bigger thing, more to do with small high streets that are populated by small community-minded businesses disappearing because big multiples come in and swallow them up,’ he said.
‘They just come in and take over, push up rents, and it is not good for small businesses that are trying to make a living.’
The close-knit community united and showed their support for the traditional cobbler shop.
Gemma, who created the petition, explained: ‘Small businesses rely on the community, and the community needs to stick together and promote it.’
Alan’s grandfather first opened the cobbler business in the 1930s on Mary Hill Road in Glasgow, before dying and having his son take it over.
Some of Alan’s first memories are of helping his father in the shop. But when his dad’s cobbler business closed, he decided to join the family trade and open his own in 1995.
He offers services such as shoe repairing, key cutting and replacing watch batteries.
He continued: ‘My dad used to take me to the shop as a youngster at the age of 5, and he would give me little jobs to do, like inking around the edges of shows, things that were harmless.
‘My father died very young at the age of 45 when I was in the army. His business in Glasgow folded, so I wanted to start up in his name.
‘In 1995, I established this shop here in Bishop Cleeve 30 years ago. I’ve become part of the community now, and it’s a lovely place to live in. People are so supportive. I can’t see me retiring anytime soon.’
Tesco confirmed that it is withdrawing the planning application, but did not specify if this was due to the petition.
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