As we head full tilt into the May bank holiday weekend, not only can we afford a little frivolity but also the hope that life, and the freedom it affords us, is finally heading in the right direction.

With hotels having reopened recently, and the vaccination rate increasing by hundreds of thousands every day, the town — like many around the country — has been bolstered by a steady influx of tourists which can only be good for everyone allowing us more freedom than we will have seen for a while and the opportunity to increase the turnover of our businesses.

Having opened our third store in Bowness on Windermere on May 1, we have noticed a significant increase in the number of visitors to both Sidmouth and Bowness. Many wonder why we have stores that are so far apart and we cannot deny that Bowness is a six hour drive from Sidmouth, although the journey does appear to get shorter the more you do it, but we do enjoy the idyllic locations that provide a wealth of interaction from a diverse range of cultures. We also provide antique dealers with the opportunity to have their stock in three very different locations around the country at subsidised rates, which in turn provides them with the chance to further their income, without having to travel further than their local store. This is something we could all do with following the last 18 months we have all endured.

Business has been tough for everyone since the pandemic took hold but we must not lose sight of the fact that the future will arrive no matter how much doom and gloom you present, none of us can slow the hands of time, it will catch up with us all at some point so there is no benefit to making it any harder than it has to be. Caution is still a byword that we must all live by to a degree, and complacency is certainly something not to be entertained.