Bringing Broughton Community Together: Village Store Expansion
Broughton's community store reopens, bigger and better, reaffirming its value as a community-owned asset.
In May 2025, the local community celebrated the official opening of the Broughton Village Store, the culmination of a long-term project that saw the regeneration of a small privately-owned village store. What had once closed its doors was now reopened as a bigger shop with more choice and, perhaps most importantly, as a community-owned asset. The opening celebration was vibrant and brought together funders, volunteers, and members of the community to mark this significant milestone and to recognise the dedicated volunteers and contractors who made it all possible.
About the Organisation
Upper Tweed Community Enterprises Ltd (UTCE) was established in 2018 with the specific purpose of taking over and operating the Broughton Village Shop. It operates as a community-owned trading entity, with 250 local people who have invested through community share offers.
The organisation's mission was to provide retail services and other services of social benefit to the Upper Tweed Community, ensuring local access to essential goods and services in this rural Scottish Borders location. The board is made up of committed local volunteers who work to keep their community shop thriving.
Why the Shop Was Needed
When Broughton's village shop closed its doors in March 2018, it left the community without any local retail provision. For residents, this created a real challenge as the nearest alternative was a supermarket in Biggar - a 10-kilometre journey each way just for basic groceries and banking services. This distance was particularly challenging for elderly residents without personal transport, families needing daily essentials, and isolated community members who had come to rely on local services.
The impact went well beyond mere inconvenience. The shop had traditionally served as the village's social hub and meeting point, and its closure threatened to undermine the community's social fabric. Recognising this critical gap, the Upper Tweed Community Council invited local residents to form the Broughton Shop Development Group. The speed with which the community mobilised demonstrated how vital the shop was to daily life in this rural area.
How the Store Would Impact the Community
The shop extension project was designed to bring tangible benefits across multiple aspects of community life. The proposed 37% increase in retail space would expand the shop to 60 square metres, allowing for a much broader range of products and more efficient customer service. This enhanced retail provision would mean residents wouldn't need to make as many trips to distant supermarkets, saving both time and money whilst reducing carbon emissions from unnecessary travel.
Beyond the practical benefits, there was genuine hope that the expansion would strengthen the shop's role as a community hub and meeting point. The improved facilities were planned to better serve the 3,000+ customers who visit monthly, with 80% being local residents from the Fund area. The shop's delivery services for remote or vulnerable residents would continue, supported by the Welfare Fund that helps those struggling financially and even purchases ingredients for the local primary school breakfast club.
The project would also create economic benefits by keeping spending power within the local community rather than seeing it flow to distant retail centres. Employment opportunities would be maintained for the locally employed full-time manager and five part-time staff, whilst providing meaningful volunteer roles for six to ten regular community volunteers. The improved energy efficiency through better insulation and photovoltaic panels would help reduce operational costs, contributing to the shop's long-term sustainability.
The Project
The extension project involved comprehensive modernisation and expansion of the existing village shop premises. The work centred on creating a new rear extension to replace the existing uninsulated storage area, whilst consolidating all storage within the main building. This would eliminate the need for staff to navigate uneven and unstable external steps to reach separate storage buildings - a real safety concern.
The total project cost came to £258,060, based on professional surveyor assessments. The financial structure combined the £50,000 Nadara Glenkerie Fund awarded in March 2023, with community investment raised through a second share offer targeting £25,000, of which £9,000 had already been pledged. Additional funding applications were made to other grant bodies to raise the remaining required funding.
Planning permission was granted in December 2021, with a Building Warrant approved in May 2022, establishing a completion deadline of December 2024. An architect had been engaged for design development, and agreements were secured with surrounding landowners for construction access.
The Challenges
Securing match funding from multiple sources required careful coordination throughout the project period. Second community share offers can be tricky as they're asking for additional investment from the same community members who had already supported the initial shop purchase. However, the early commitment of £9,000 towards the £25,000 target showed continued community confidence in what they were trying to achieve.
Maintaining shop operations during construction presented significant logistical challenges. The temporary relocation to the Village Hall Cottage across the road meant managing two separate sites simultaneously, with the risk of customer confusion and potential impact on sales during the transition period.
Technical coordination proved quite complex, with the need to manage the tender process for construction works whilst ensuring professional oversight throughout. The design team hadn't been retained to lead the build works, which meant UTCE had to develop expertise in construction project management whilst maintaining their primary focus on shop operations. This demanded significant volunteer time from board members who were already busy managing a retail enterprise.
Project Management and Delivery
UTCE engaged appropriate professional advisors at each stage, from initial architectural design through chartered surveyor cost assessments to building warrant applications. This professional approach gave confidence to funders and ensured realistic budgeting and timescales.
Community engagement remained at the heart of the project's success. Regular updates were provided through the shop's Facebook page, which had 855 followers, as well as through the website and direct email communications. The plans were presented to the Annual Members Meeting in September 2022, ensuring transparency and maintaining member support for the additional investment required.
The phased drawdown of the Nadara Glenkerie Fund award aligned with project milestones, showing effective financial management and reducing risk for both the Funder and the community organisation. This approach allowed UTCE to manage cashflow effectively whilst providing assurance that funds were being used appropriately and that the project was progressing as planned.
Risk management was thorough, with detailed contingency planning for potential cost overruns, construction delays, and operational disruptions. The temporary premises arrangement at Village Hall Cottage wasn't just a necessity but was turned into an opportunity, with UTCE raising £36,000 to improve the cottage facilities, creating a better community meeting space for other groups once the shop returned to its permanent home.
Outcomes and Impact
The project was successfully completed in December 2024, with the shop reopening in its expanded and modernised premises. The transformation was immediately obvious to customers, who now benefit from a much larger selection of food, goods, and gifts in a bright, well-organised retail environment.
The operational improvements have been equally significant. Staff and volunteers now work in much better conditions, with consolidated storage eliminating the safety hazards of the previous external steps and separate buildings.
The shop's financial performance remains strong, with monthly sales exceeding £30,000 and operating hours maintained at Monday to Saturday 7am-6pm and Sunday 9am-2pm. The business model continues to work well, with income covering all operational costs without requiring ongoing revenue support from external funders. This sustainability is crucial for a rural community enterprise serving a relatively small population.
Beyond the immediate operational benefits, the project has strengthened community resilience and shown what can be achieved through collective action. The successful completion during a challenging period for retail businesses demonstrates that community ownership and professional management can create sustainable enterprises that truly serve local needs.
Conclusion
This project shows how rural communities can successfully take ownership of their essential services, creating sustainable enterprises that strengthen community resilience and reduce dependence on distant urban centres.
The Broughton Village Store extension represents an excellent example of community-led development in rural Scotland. With support from the Nadara Glenkerie Fund and through professional project management, diversified funding, and sustained community ownership, UTCE has successfully expanded and modernised an essential community asset that serves residents across a wide rural area.
The £50,000 Nadara Glenkerie Fund award was instrumental in making this transformation possible, providing the confidence and leverage for additional community investment and other funding applications.
The success provides a model that other communities could follow when facing the loss of local services, showing that with proper planning, professional management, and sustained community commitment, local ownership can deliver better outcomes than relying on external commercial providers.
The completed project secures the future of this essential service whilst enhancing its capacity to serve the community for generations to come. The transformation from a struggling shop facing closure to a thriving, expanded community enterprise demonstrates the potential for community ownership to create lasting positive change in rural areas where commercial viability alone might not sustain essential services.