Village shopkeeper wins job fight

Tim Barratt, with wife Marie, said he would make the new shop a success

People living in a south Devon village have voted to keep their shopkeeper after he was told he did not have the skills to run a new shop.

Aveton Gifford's new £100,000 village shop is due to open on 1 August.

Tim Barratt, 31, has run a temporary shop for the past four years, but was told by the shop committee that a Kent businessman would run the new shop.

A new village shop committee has now been voted in and pledged to keep Mr Barratt in his role.

Shareholders vote in the new shop

The new committee was voted for overwhelmingly after a poll on Friday evening of nearly 300 villagers who bought shares in the new shop.

Mr Barratt, who has been paying £50 a month rent on the current shop and post office, a converted container dubbed the Tin Shop, will have to pay £400 a month for the new premises.

An independent interview panel, made up of local businessmen who then advised the committee, had suggested Mr Barratt "lacked confidence" and did not have the necessary business skills for a larger shop.

But Mal Young, chairman of the new shop committee, said members were sure that with their support, Mr Barratt could meet the financial commitments.

'Fantastic job'

He said: "Tim has done a fantastic job.

"He has given four years of his life to the shop and we feel confident that he will make the new shop a success."

Father-of-one Mr Barratt, who attended the meeting with wife Marie, said: "It's a great relief.

"Now I have got people that are going to support me I think we can work together to make it a success."

Burda Gage, outgoing shop committee chairman, said: "We have achieved the building.

"Sadly, the question of who will run it has been very divisive.

"But now it's up to them to get on with it. I wish them every success."

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