A SHOP owner had to cope with keeping her business afloat during the Coronavirus pandemic after losing her husband.

Fiona Broomfield, owner of Broomfields Farm Shop, said it had not been easy for the business after owner, Colin Broomfield died, aged 52, of a brain tumour on February 1.

She praised the staff who she said had gone to “great efforts” the last few months to keep the business afloat during the pandemic.

Mrs Broomfield said: “I was left on my own and have been running the business alone throughout all this.

“I think because I have been so busy it’s been easier to cope.

"I wish Collin could be here to see what’s happening.

"This will go down in history - sanitising trollies outside the shop, staff wearing masks, limiting the amount of people inside and now the office is acting as a takeaway.

“You have to just get on with it. It’s tough but I had no choice. I couldn’t have shut the business down.”

The farm shop in Holt Heath adapted to the coronavirus update by offering collections.

Mrs Broomfield said: “I have managed to keep trading. It’s an uncertain future for us. We’ve been busy but we don’t know what’s going to happen.

“Looking back at the time of lockdown we had no idea how events would unfold.

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"The telephones rang non-stop when we established contactless collections for hundreds of vulnerable and shielding customers. And for those who could visit the shop we remained open ensuring we gave customers a safe environment to visit.

“Everyone has pulled together at Broomfields. The staff have worked tirelessly and suppliers have kept the farm shop well stocked reacting at short notice to demand where supermarkets struggled.”

The shop was founded in the 70s by Fiona’s late father-in-law Maurice Broomfield, who died in June 2016.

She closed the original café a week before lockdown as she was in the process of opening a new one, however that’s been postponed.

Instead, the office windows have been removed and the room is now used as a takeaway called The Grub Hut.

Fiona added: “I don’t think my café will be opening until September. Hopefully as lockdown eases, we look forward to people eating our food in the spacious orchard instead.”