Residents and visitors have shared what it's like in the Nottinghamshire town with a number of award-winning businesses. Over the years Stapleford has become well known for its independent businesses, many of which have won notable awards in the industry.
Recently Tan-2-Mission was named the Tanning Salon of the Year for 2023 in the English Hair and Beauty Awards, and town pub, The Horse and Jockey, was named Nottingham's Pub of the Year 2023 by CAMRA.
Independent Councillor Richard MacRae, independent councillor for Stapleford North on Broxtowe Borough Council, said the town's success is what makes it "the best town in the world." He explained: "We’ve got an award-winning salon down there which is the best salon in Nottinghamshire.
"The pub just up the way, The Horse and Jockey, they have just won an award, it’s an award-winning market, we’ve even got an award-winning Avon rep here." When asked if the recognition of so many businesses made him proud, he replied: "I’m always proud of Stapleford.
"Of course we have award -winning businesses as we are the best town in Nottingham. The best day is a Thursday and the reason we are so busy on a Thursday is because we have a market and that brings people in."
Councillor MacRae explained that being known for award-winning businesses encourages other businesses to open up in the town, as they know that there will already be a draw for people to shop on the High Street. He said: "Most of the businesses on our High Street are independent, and we’ve got everything.
"When people say there’s things we haven’t got, we haven’t got a bank but we have everything else. If people come out and support the high street more and spend more money on the high street than other businesses will come to the high street as they know business will be there."
When asked why she enjoyed shopping in Stapleford, marketing manager Clair Law, 44, of Beeston, said: "Stapleford is a great place. It’s got so much going for it, and with all the money that’s been spent on it and its been awarded it’s just going to continue to grow and get better."
One of the market stalls on the market is run by Avon representative, Kayleigh Bates, 36, who says trading in the town is "really good." Kayleigh has been doing Avon for six years, and was recently ranked around the top 200 out of almost 160,000 representatives.
She said: "The people are all really positive, and I get a lot of repeat customers. It can be quiet some days with the weather but generally it's great."
Another well-known business in the town is Shirley's Boutique, which has been operating in Stapleford since 1952 and has now been run by three generations. Owner of Shirley’s Boutique, Sarah Walton, 62, said: “My mum was 18 and she had it for that many years and I’ve been here since I was 26 and we’ve got three of her grandchildren that work here.
"We’ve had three premises in Stapleford, we’ve been in this about nine years now." Sarah explained that there was a good sense of community in the town and that the "family-run" business had many regular customers.
When asked about the other businesses in the town, she replied: "There’s not much about, there’s not many shops and that, we only seem to have charity shops and barber shops and takeaways and hairdressers, but I think that’s like everywhere.
"It’s always quite busy on this main road, we could do with a butchers but there’s someone that comes to the market on a Thursday. " However, there are also a number of cafes and food shops about which she described as "handy."
She said: "There’s a few places for lunch and the girls will pop there on lunch."
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