ARCADIA DELICATESSEN has been part of the retail offering of Belfast’s Lisburn Road since 1933, a third-generation family business with grandmother Eileen Brown running the business originally, followed by her son, William.

Son Mark and his wife, Laura have two daughters Matilda (16) and Dolly (13) who accompanied them in the shop to highlight the strong family ethos behind the business. Three generations of the Brown family were also present.

Laura and Mark spoke to Her Majesty about the role small independent retail businesses play in maintaining a sense of community and social cohesion and about the importance of shopping local.

“Small family businesses are important to the local community and we were thrilled to welcome Her Majesty The Queen,” said Laura.

The shop is a traditional style delicatessen selling cheese, charcuterie, pasta, olives and all sorts of delights.

“With a small, but long-standing and dedicated team of eight staff we are honoured to be a well-loved part of the local high street. Great customer and renowned poet, Michael Longley recently described this part of the Lisburn Road as ‘the centre of his universe’,” added Laura.

Mark and Laura’s daughter, Dolly presented a posy of locally grown spring flowers to The Queen, created by local florist Allison Hood.

The post Independent retailer’s delight at playing part of Royal visit first appeared on Neighbourhood Retailer.

Visiting Henderson Group’s warehouse in Mallusk, Prince Charles met safely with workers from various aspects of the Group’s companies, including lorry drivers, warehouse operatives and retail staff, all of whom kept the country going during lockdown by ensuring vital supply and services to and from SPAR, EUROSPAR and ViVO branded stores in Northern Ireland.

Dedicated and inspirational

Martin Agnew, Joint Managing Director of Henderson Group said it was an honour to have a Royal take the time to recognise the dedication of their staff; “Our workers from all areas of our business have been nothing short of amazing, dedicated and inspirational during one of the most challenging times our industry has seen.

“We are extremely proud to have their commitment to keeping supplies on the road and shelves stacked during an unprecedented time formally recognised, and we hope it has given them a boost to know their work has not gone unnoticed by even higher sources than ourselves.”

Higher sources

Gary Reid, a lorry driver with Henderson Wholesale who has been with the company for 50 years this year met His Royal Highness, and commented; “We were very lucky to have been kept in employment when we were in the depths of lockdown, as we were providing an essential service. We were key workers and were fully committed to ensuring our communities got their essentials, especially when the panic buying kicked in.

“Prince Charles recognised that, and I was very proud to meet him with my colleagues.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Henderson Group kept their 96 Henderson Retail, and hundreds of independently owned stores supplied with essentials for their local communities, whilst maintaining retail, logistics and wholesale roles across the company.

Vulnerable and self-isolating

Henderson Foodservice also diversified to supply more than 15,000 food boxes for delivery to vulnerable and self-isolating people thanks to a collaboration with the Department for Communities.

Since March, Henderson Retail has invested over £1,000,000 and continues to invest in safety measures and protocol throughout its stores, alongside clear communications around safe shopping regulations to its shoppers through in-store, TV, radio and social media messaging.

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