The Charlbury Deli opened in 1991 with about 50 shareholders, roughly half of whom are still customers. We now have 121 different names on our shareholder register.

The shop’s had its ups and downs – and right now, we’re especially proud of how it’s come through the first nine months of Covid.

Though the closure of cafes, and the reluctance of many Deli customers to use them even when legal, means we’ve lost the third of our business  that used to grab a snack, our sales are still up on 2019.

But, throughout our 30 years, we’ve had to adapt our offer – and how we ran the business – as competition around us has changed.

We’ve set up a brief history here of how we’ve governed ourselves to meet ever-changing needs.