As Business owners in Sidmouth gear up for their planned re-opening on April 12 some of us are sitting like a coiled spring waiting to be released!

Attempting to open or expand a business in the current climate has been a challenge for many but against the odds we have managed to add another store to the Antiques on High brand making us the largest High Street Antiques retailer in the UK with three antiques centres in three leading locations.

With various updates already in place in Sidmouth, including two new screens providing continuous stock slideshows and more cabinets to house more stock, we have always thrived on the relationships we have built with customers in the town and had viewed several premises before we opened in Sidmouth in December 2018. Our next venue was already on our radar and the measure of progress involved in bringing it to fruition has only been hampered by the restrictions of Covid. We are pleased to announce that our store in Bowness on Windermere in the Lake district will open on May 1 and will be subject to any Government guidelines and restrictions.

The two and a half thousand square foot venue is ideally situated in the throbbing heart of the Lake district within seconds of the Beatrix Potter museum and will maintain the rigorous high standards achieved in both our Oxford and Sidmouth venues taking all major credit and debit cards and providing a free delivery service for larger pieces such as furniture.

For any antique dealer, the opportunity to have their stock installed in three premier high street locations around Great Britain without having to travel outside their hometown is an unrivalled opportunity with their stock being transported free of charge and displayed in either of our other stores. The customer benefits massively as we offer stock from quite literally around the country and live web cam viewings in any store are available if the piece required is in another location with free shipping to collect in any store.

Since buying the Oxford High Street store in August 2017 we have always aimed to provide a level of good old-fashioned customer service, something which appears to be lacking in so many modern stores and although the three lockdowns of the last year have left many, including ourselves, forced to buy products over the internet for our own safety, now more than ever local stores will be hoping that it is a practice that is quickly dispensed with once we are all allowed out again and we would encourage everyone in towns across the UK to shop local wherever you can.