THE coronavirus pandemic has seen independent businesses forced to shut their doors to customers due to national lockdowns.
An independent Dorset bookshop has been using this time to do some work to its premises.
Paul Angel, the owner of Westbourne Bookshop said: “We took over here nearly six years ago and we’ve been doing some work which we wouldn’t have been able to do because we can only do it when there are no customers in. So we are trying to make good use of the time we’ve got.”
The family-owned business has adapted to the current restrictions by offering click and collect services, deliveries and sending books by post.
We couldn’t run a business like this all year round and I wouldn’t want to. But we’re ticking over and it’s keeping us going.
Mr Angel added: “We couldn’t run a business like this all year round and I wouldn’t want to. But we’re ticking over and it’s keeping us going.
“We’re certainly busy.People want to support us, so it’s not as bad as it could be.”
The Prime Minister’s roadmap suggests that all non-essential shops could re-open from April 12.
Mr Angel said: “By April, we’ll be more than ready.”
If you would like to visit the Westbourne Bookshop website, follow this link: https://booksandvinyl.co.uk/westbourne/ or visit the bookshop.org page: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/westbourne