Amanda Milling, Member of Parliament for Cannock Chase, has welcomed the opening of The Village Store in Heath Hayes.
The new shop is the latest step for the growing local business, The Funky Food Co. run by Tony and Kay Rabbitts. The new shop was officially opened on Friday 12 April by Mr Reg Fullelove B.E.M. a well-respected member of the Heath Hayes community, with the Cannock Chase MP joining Tony and Kay to celebrate their first Saturday of trading.
The company started out in a kitchen five years ago producing different pickled onions, chutneys and marmalades that were sold at Food Festivals across the country. The business was approached by various farm shops who asked to stock their products and the business started to grow rapidly, especially after the launch of an online shop, www.thefunkyfoodco.com. The natural next step for the growing local business was to have a high street presence, and hence the opening of The Village Store in Heath Hayes.
Tony Rabbitt said: “As we are a small independent company, we wanted to work alongside other small local businesses who supply us with their products too, bringing the old fashioned village shop back to the high street, and the feedback has been very positive”.
Amanda Milling MP said: “The business is a great example of the potential of small businesses and local entrepreneurs – congratulations to Tony and Kay and I wish them all the very best with their very exciting new venture. Not only have they shown how a family run business can grow from a kitchen to a farm shop supplier, they are also bringing back a traditional high street shop.”
The Cannock Chase MP added: “It was amazing to see how busy the store was on Saturday morning. It has a fabulous range of products so I am not surprised that it is an instant hit with local residents.”
The Village Shop can be found on Hednesford Road in Heath Hayes.
