Burwash Village Store named in top independent retailers’ list

The Village Store in Burwash has been recognised as one of the top independent shops in the UK.

The High Street shop was named in the 2019 Top List produced by the Independent Achievers’ Academy (IAA).

Lee McCrumlish, the owner of Burwash Village Store, said: “We are particularly proud of this achievement given the hard work that has gone into re-opening and rebuilding our store after a difficult last 12 months. As most local people will be aware on 12th September 2018 The Village Store suffered from an extensive fire which destroyed the entire rear section of the shop. Thanks to the quick reactions of our neighbours and the excellent work from the Burwash Fire crews (and the fire crews from the surrounding areas) we were very fortunate. the end result could have been much worse.

Although the main part of the shop didn’t suffer from any direct fire damage there was a substantial amount of smoke damage that affected almost everything. As a result we had to completely strip everything out and effectively refit the shop from scratch. We were closed for 10 weeks and during this time we were very grateful to receive the offers of help and support from everybody in the community.

Being a Top 100 retailer has only been possible thanks to the continued support we receive. It recognises all the hard work from our staff, our loyal customers and the wider Burwash community.”