On Tuesday 5 September I attended the official ‘opening’ of Camp Hopsons – Newbury’s oldest and only independent family run department store. After an extensive refurbishment that lasted several years and took many more to plan, store director Jonathan Hopson, members of the board and shareholders gathered with representatives from all of the businesses involved in the refurbishment, whilst Newbury MP Richard Benyon and I cut the ribbon.
We then walked a short distance to the Corn Exchange for the speeches and buffet lunch. Jonathan asked me to say a few words about Camps from the perspective of the local residents – it was easy to say how proud we all are to have an independent department store in our town, especially one that has now invested in its future and is such an asset to the high street. I did mention that my father had done business with Camps in the 1950’s, and that I had queued up for the sales over the years, most memorably to buy a pushchair 13 years ago when I was expecting Theo. There can’t be many local people without some connection to or memory of Camp Hopsons, even if it is just a piece of furniture they remember buying there! I’ve just remembered my mother worked there for a while 20 years ago.
I returned a few days later to buy my winter boots in the 20% off sale!
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