A much-loved hardware store in Kings Heath could become the first cooperative in England as residents work to take over once its current owner retires. If enough capital is raised, the community buyout of York Supplies will be the first of its kind deal, and will see determined locals take over and run the shop.

It is a move that will aim to preserve tradition and update the store’s current offering to become a space for local groups as well. Neighbours rallied to form grassroots group York Supplies Action Group when current York Supplies owner Jon announced he would be retiring.

In an effort to prevent their beloved emporium from “becoming a takeaway” or into the hands of developers, residents decided to try and find a way to keep the treasure trove on their doorstep. “We learnt that Jon was retiring last summer, and the first meetings were called in July and September 2022” group chair Naomi Standen told BirminghamLive.

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‘People love the shop’

“In the public meetings, it was a real emotional reaction. People love the shop, it’s in our hearts, it’s not like Homebase, you enjoy going there.” Explaining why locals love York Supplies so much, Naomi said: “You can buy what you want, if you just want one screw, if you want six bags of compost, Jon only sells good stuff, you get advice.

“It’s that that we want to preserve, the thing that sells, but also that ethos, of community service and advice.” She went on: “Jon likes to find solutions, that’s the idea that we want to keep going. We have ideas like creating a repair cafe, maybe 3D printing, using some of the space for events.

“It’s already got quite a community ethos because Jon stores stuff for people, but we would like to expand that. And because there’s more of us, we’ll have the energy to do it. The thing about this is to keep it as a functioning business, we have to use that money for the community stuff, ensure we are making enough money to feed back into the community stuff – and that’s what we want to do.”