Keeping a Community Supplied in the Midst of a Crisis

CT Baker Ltd is a family business that operates three subsidiary retail businesses centred in and around the rural town of Holt in Norfolk. These include a department store in the centre of the town called Bakers & Larners of Holt, a chain of 4 builders merchants depots called CT Baker Builders Merchants and two supermarkets under the Budgens brand name. CT Baker Ltd is owned by the Baker family and is currently in its 9th generation of family ownership, having been in business as a family for over 250 years! Over that time, they have become intimately connected to the community of Holt and its surrounds and are the largest private sector employer in the area.

Holt itself is a small market town in the north of Norfolk. The main economy of Holt is retail and tourism, and as such the High Street is of vital importance to the area. The Bakers & Larners of Holt department store, together with the CT Baker Budgens supermarket in Holt, acts as the economic heart of the town centre. Many other retail businesses in the town rely upon the department store and supermarket to draw in customers, which in turn rely upon these smaller independent shops to add a uniqueness and vibrancy to the retail offering of the town…making it a retail destination despite a local population of only 4,000

There are a large proportion of pensioners and elderly people in Holt, with the highest population of over 65s of any town in the UK, who constitute over 35% of the residents.

When the Covid pandemic hit, CT Baker Ltd was very concerned about the wellbeing of their customers who were the most vulnerable section of the population yet also those who relied upon in-store presence more than most.

The Budgens supermarket, operated by CT Baker Ltd, had to increase deliveries over this period and make additional provision for telephone bookings for deliveries, as so many of their customers were unfamiliar with and untrusting of online shopping. Tragically, in June of 2020, the store burned down.

CT Baker Ltd was not content to resign the town to its fate without a supermarket and within 5 days of the tragedy, the post office - the only one in the town and which was located within the supermarket- was up and running in the Bakers and Larners department store, ensuring this vital service to the community was maintained.  

They were not happy to just take loss of profits money from the insurance company and do nothing for the town in which they have been in business in for over 250 years, whilst the supermarket is re-built. The nearest alternative supermarket is over 5 miles from Holt, which is too far for many of the town’s inhabitants, quite a few of whom no longer drive. The supermarket was re-established within the car park of the original store in a temporary structure, albeit with a smaller square footage. The Baker family faced many challenges in getting the temporary store up and running to continue to serve the community of Holt. As ever getting planning permission involved challenges over noise (air con units), access etc. But as a first step the insurers had to be convinced the cost of construction, fit-out and later removal of the temporary store would be more than met by the reduced loss of profits they would have to pay out over less than 3 years.

In the midst of this they also had to deal with the supply chain disruption Covid had caused nationally. As a family owned business, they had flexibility to access alternative suppliers when needed, and being embedded in the local economy had the benefit of a strong local producer network, especially in the fresh food space, who were able to meet the extra local demand that “working from home” or “working from second home in North Norfolk” created. This helped them to avoid many of the “out of stock” shortages common in the larger national supermarket chains.

It was their commitment to the town of Holt, and their knowledge of their community, that moved the Baker family to move so quickly and respond so innovatively to such a disaster and still serve as the centre point of their town’s retail economy.