Chaz Chahal, owner of The Simply Fresh Forge Shop in Inkberrow, says January can be a bit of a dull month but he’s been very busy this year sorting out his new range from Nisa after the P&H collapse. He’s ensuring all the infrastructure of the business is stable and ready for the triple hit of seasonal events.

He explains: ”With Nisa now being our supplier, we are looking for their ranges and offers and making sure to provide like-for-like replacements of all the own-brand products.

“We are very aware that Pancake Day and Valentine’s Day are just around the corner so we’re looking forward to that time. A lot of people are doing Dry January which can have quite a big hit on our sales; cereal and yogurt isn’t quite the same as wine when it comes to basket spend.

”After shoppers have got over the January blues we’ve got to have our ranges prepared and displays out to encourage people to buy for Pancake Day and Valentine’s.
“These events always feel like a bit of a gamble as you can never be certain how much people will buy at the last minute and you don’t want to have lots of left over stock after the event.”