Oxfam’s shop in Eign Gate is definitely closing at the end of April, Hereford Greens have been told after lobbying for it to be relocated instead.
Regional Manager Jo Mattinsley told us: ‘It is always a difficult decision to close shops but one we must undertake to ensure we deliver the funds required for Oxfam’s programmes. We must continue to hold ourselves to account when spending Oxfam’s money and the cost of taking on new shop leases and associated costs are significant. We have clear criteria which we apply to every shop when we come to renew a lease and unfortunately in this case, the risk to taking a new lease was too high both on our current location and others situated within Hereford.
I am sorry I can’t deliver a more positive outcome for Hereford Eign Gate but delighted we will continue to trade in the bookshop. There we are also very grateful of attracting a great loyalty base and will be able to transfer our Fair trade offer to.’
We are clearly disappointed, but will of course continue to support the Bookshop and urge others to do so. We would also like to see a more proactive policy of supporting shops to continue in the city centre. Had this closure been more widely known earlier it would have been more likely that something positive could have been done about it.
