Meet our latest Business Heroes – the team from Grosvenor Shopping-based LUSH, who were committed throughout lockdown to supporting local charities and keyworkers. When the store closed the LUSH team set about making suer their products could find a new home, so that nothing had to be thrown away.
Emma Mileham, Manager, explains all:
“When the store closed at the start of lockdown, we needed to find homes for a lot of our products. LUSH is all about fresh products made with fresh ingredients and so with trading suspended we needed to get these into the hands of people who needed them or could use a little treat in such uncertain times.
“All of our soap was cut into generous chunks, wrapped up and labelled. Several us spent all day preparing bags and bags of products to donate. We called Northampton General Hospital and arranged for a collection, destined to go the acute and respiratory wards where the teams were working so hard in such trying circumstances.
“The team also took bags of goodies home to distribute to places of their own choosing. I delivered some to East Midlands Ambulance Service and two local schools and we dropped off donations to Northampton Domestic Abuse Service, the Northampton food bank service Re:Store, The Abbey Centre Food Bank, the maternity team at the hospital to name just some of the places.
“During COVID it was people in difficult circumstances that we focussed on supporting. Our team is passionate about doing whatever we can to help those in need, it is part of the LUSH ethos.
“Although we have always donated products to charities and volunteer-led organisations this was of course on a different scale. We cleared whole sections of the shop, unsure when things would go back to normal. The wonderful team put to one side their own anxieties about the virus, their jobs and the future and threw themselves into the job of getting the products to where they would be most appreciated.
“I think that the effect of what we have been doing has been positive for sure. A lot of people will have had the chance to try something new and hopefully benefit from all the goodness that goes into the products. This also meant that when we re-opened in June, we had a lovely fresh selection of products for our customers to enjoy! It is likely that we may also have got ourselves some new fans or customers as a result.
“Due to Covid, we have paused the in-store parties that we were known for previously. These had been such a part of what we do that it has been strange to not be making bath bombs with our younger customers, but exciting developments are in the pipeline around holding virtual parties so that’s exciting. As a soap shop, being able to offer our facilities to customers so that they could wash their hands when they visit has been lovely. The ubiquitous hand sanitiser has been quite harsh on some hands as the alcohol tends to dry the skin. Our lovely soaps are packed with nourishing ingredients to care for and protect the hands.”
Emma and her team appreciate that not all customers are comfortable to shop in-store just yet so are offering a call-and-collect facility. Customers can place their order and just pop in to collect it.
A final word from Emma: “A massive ‘thank you’ to all of our customers for supporting us since we reopened by returning to store and asking after us. We wouldn’t be here without them and want to do whatever we can to make their shopping trip a safe and happy experience.”
Do you have a ‘Business Hero’ in mind?
Our Business Heroes will be individuals or teams who, over the lockdown period, have:
Made a real difference to colleagues, family, and friends
Been passionate about making the town centre the absolute best it possibly can be
Been instrumental in making positive changes to the town centre
Given back – to the community, customers, and the town centre
Our Heroes must own or be employed by a Northampton town centre BID-levy paying business. Find out more and make a nomination HERE.
