Villagers in Gargunnock faced with a 14 mile round trip for groceries are on the cusp of once again having a shop on their doorsteps.
Gargunnock Village Store at 1 Main Street has been closed since the blaze three years ago.
Gargunnock Community Council and Gargunnock Community Trust have been working to reopen the shop – which was previously run by Alistair and Violet Weir – as a community asset to serve the 900 villagers.
Now a new tenant and store manager has been announced – and this week Stirling District Licensing Board granted a licence for the premises.
Gargunnock Community Shop Ltd has welcomed tenant Ashok Pothugunta and store manager Vijay.
And they added: “With shopfitting kicking off soon, the countdown to our grand opening has officially begun.
“Ashok brings over two decades of experience in the convenience store industry, having successfully managed more than 20 stores across the UK, including two recently acquired Scotmid sites.
“His expertise will undoubtedly contribute to a thriving retail experience for all.”
To restore the shop, a Community Benefit Society (CBS) named Gargunnock Community Shop Ltd was formed, operating under a volunteer management committee with the aim of reopening in December 2024.
To date, the group has secured two major grants: a Community Ownership Fund of £224,032 for capital funding and £29,000 for revenue, for the shop building renovation; and a Scottish Land Fund (SLF) grant of £154,759 used to purchase the property, make essential repairs, and fund project manager Danielle McRorie-Smith. Gargunnock Estates Trust has also provided matched funding of £56,000.
The community has also been fundraising for £60,000 for a new roof and hundreds of locals have responded by buying community shares in the shop.
Each investor becomes a member with voting rights at the AGM and the opportunity to join the management committee.
Gargunnock residents will always make up a majority of shareholders, and all members have equal voting rights.
The minimum investment for Gargunnock residents is £25 (25 shares), and for non-residents, it is £50 (50 shares). The aim is to offer up to five per cent interest from Year 2 (2025/26) and start offering share withdrawals from Year 3 (2026/27), with a maximum annual withdrawal of 15 per cent. Long term, it is hoped to use surplus profit for community initiatives and village investment.
At a meeting this week, the licensing board granted a provisional premises licence, allowing alcohol to be sold in the shop Monday to Sunday from 10am until 10pm.
It also permitted alcohol to be included in home deliveries, if and when such a service was introduced.
Agent for the applicants Archie McIvor told the board: “Gargunnock has been without a shopping facility for about the past three yars or so when the previous shop, which had operated in one form or another for about 50 years, unfortunately burnt down, so locals been without a shopping amenity for that time.
“They have been facing a 14 mile round trip to access the shopping facilities which they would desire.
“The proposal before you is very much a community driven application.
“All being well it will be operating under a community benefits society with the profits made from the operation basically being invested back into the community.
“Financial expenditure here of approximately £600,000 is made up of local investors who have entered into the community share scheme, grants from authorities and additional funding from a further third party.
“It’s a store that’s been built to a very eco-friendly status, it will have the usual safeguards involved – CCTV throughout, refusals books, challenge 25 documentation on display, etc.
“It is something that is very keenly awaited by the local residents and which I’m sure will be a benefit to them.
“The person the community is bringing in to operate the shop is very experienced and has been involved in the management of licensed premises for in excess of 20 years and is a very experienced candidate for that role.
“Reference to home deliveries would be future proofing to be honest. It may or may not happen.
“If it were to happen then clearly anyone involved in the delivery of alcohol would be trained to exercise challenge 25 on the doorstep and the like.”
The board granted the application, with chair Councillor Alasdair Tollemache adding: “I would just like to wish the community the best of luck in this venture.”