Sheffield greengrocer's deliveries shoot up to 400 a week during lockdown

Mark Billingsley took over the Martin Scriven shop on Baslow Road, Totley, two years ago, but a greengrocer’s has been in that spot for more than 50 years.

The shop used to make about 20 to 25 deliveries a week – but this rocketed when lockdown came in.

At its peak, the shop was making 400 deliveries every week.

Mark said: “When the government announced the lockdown, people couldn't get supermarket deliveries, so we tried to fill the void and extend our range.

“We teamed up with other shops to sell milk and bread and then changed our opening hours to fit in with customers.

"We had people call us from Liverpool and London asking if we could deliver to their elderly parents who live here, but couldn't get food from anywhere.

"At the peak we were doing 400 deliveries a week, which didn't include collection.

“The queue was so high, we were starting at 7am and were so busy we couldn't even answer the phone."

Mark said they were only able to manage the deliveries thanks to a team of volunteers.

Mark and colleague Andrea Pashley were also joined by Mark's wife Sarah and the couple's daughter Lucy, whose A-levels came to a sudden halt.

He said: “We have always offered free deliveries and wanted to carry on doing those, because we didn't want to take advantage of the situation and charge people, but it was only possible thanks to lots of help from people living locally.

“We've changed our hours now and have tried to adapt to everybody's needs.

“The shop is open on reduced hours, but that means we have more capacity for collection and deliveries.

“A lot of our orders are by phone and email and people collect them as it breaks up the day.”

Last week, Coun Martin Smith launched a campaign to encourage people to Shop Sheffield and to carry on supporting independent traders who have worked so hard during the coronavirus lockdown.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to The Star website and enjoy unlimited access to local news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content.

Visit https://www.thestar.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.