Tower and Town, February 2024

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John Osborne Pays Some Calls In The High Street

The Funghi Club

“No chips, no burgers, no Sunday roast,” says Laurent emphatically, with a touch of humour. The French style of this bistro, which opened in Hughenden Yard in the autumn, is obvious and – from the number of those who have tried it out and been back again – well liked. I wondered what the difference was between the Funghi Club here in Marlborough and its ancestor in Hungerford: “None, except there’s more space here.”

The emphasis is on relaxed style and fast service, with a quality menu “not quite like a restaurant” and a limited list of well-chosen wines, reasonably priced. They offer home delivery and a take-away delicatessen counter, too. It amazed me that the one kitchen is in Hungerford. The efficiency implied by this is at the heart of what they do.

The atmosphere is light and bright, with the café-style white-topped tables where you can perch, and lower, extendable oak tables where slightly larger groups can sit. It is fascinating to imagine how the summer will be, when people will be sitting outside in the flagged yard in that lovely suntrap.

Laurent and Janie like Marlborough: she reels off “vibrant”, “captivating town”, with “the wide High Street”, a “mix of people” and a “mix of shops”. In return, their customers clearly appreciate them, experienced, busy and aware, and offering something with a different style

Sassy & Boo

“It’s all about colour,” says Marie, as she explains what Sassy and Boo offer. I am wondering what the difference may be between this and Marlborough’s other boutiques, and what the attraction of the High Street is to anyone setting up this sort of business. To my eyes there is a lot of competition, and we have had Covid and a recession…

This Sassy & Boo has been here over a year and as one of eight shops with their base in Cirencester it has been the most successful and always in the top four. High rents do not help, as all traders in Marlborough will tell you, but Marie tells me that they have “taken off”: people know ‘Luella’, their main brand, it is not aimed only at the middle-aged, but schoolgirls, too, and prices are reasonable. “We are not too flash,” she says. They are on line, there is a sales row in the shop “to keep interest”, and shortly there is to be a ‘Changing Seasons, Changing Bodies Workshop’, with a psychotherapist present to advise with insights about well-being, to boost confidence and to have some fun. I can imagine the Spring Collection round the corner? “It is in the warehouse.”

And Marlborough? “We have a good, regular client base.” Marie clearly does not mind that there are “so many nice shops”. It helps that people come here to meet up, to lunch and to browse. She is “very comfortable with Marlborough.”

Vinegar Hill

“It was deliberate to open at the Christmas period,” says Dessi, the energetic manager of the High Street’s latest shop. With its bright and cheerful window, and a great variety and mass of colourful stock, this addition to Marlborough’s retail scene was instantly popular. I wondered how Vinegar Hill differentiated itself from, say, gift shops in town and Dessi’s answer was that they were instantly recognizable from their shop window and are not in competition.

Vinegar Hill is a family business, with sixteen outlets, based in Stratford-upon-Avon. Dessi’s most recent experience was in a superstore in a big town and so Marlborough, this shop and its clientele are very different. She says nice things about their customers, notes that the majority are happy to spend, not just to browse, and is surprised sometimes at what they buy. Kiri, her assistant, mentions the “old-fashioned” aspect of the High Street, and Dessi appreciates the police, too, who keep in touch and provide friendly support.

I ask Dessi what gives her most satisfaction. “Making people feel special,” she says. Dessi and her staff – a blend of part-time as well as full-time – aim to provide “a friendly environment”, so that people feel welcome, “as if they are walking into a living room, not just a store.” And your dog is welcome, too.

John Osborne