Rural businesses have struggled since the pandemic began which plunged shops, pubs, and salons into difficult financial situations.

With only a short break between national lockdowns, independent businesses have been hanging on to loyal customers and were forced to get creative.

Pubs started selling takeaway Sunday roasts and refillable pints, one hairdresser in Didcot swapped her scissors for an online fudge business called ‘Fudging Hell’. The Keep cocktail bar in Wallingford decided early in the pandemic to switch from a bar to an off-licence selling specialist spirits and beer.

Although it has been a rough year for many there are some lucky exceptions where the new plan has meant surprising success.

Abingdon book shop Mostly Books did not have a click and collect or delivery service before March last year. Within three days the shop launched the service on their website and started doing book deliveries by bike.

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Lyndsey Smith, who works at the book shop was nominated for the ‘bookshop hero’ award, sponsored by HarperCollins, after she cycled 720km during the height of the first Covid-19 wave, delivering books to vulnerable and shielding customers daily.

Now the business has a team of volunteers to deliver the books with a core team of three in the shop to keep things running.

People’s love of books certainly did not disappear in the pandemic, in fact the book shop had some of its best sales. Owner of Mostly Books, Sarah Dennis said: “We maintained reasonable sales all the way through and in fact last year our turnover was up from the previous year.

“I do think there has been a real shift in mindset, there are so many people who want to support local businesses. Which is obviously great because without our customers we would be in a whole heap of trouble.”

Mostly Books launched an online book club after it had planned to start hosting one face-to-face for book lovers in April 2020 and it has even started a podcast.

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Author events usually give the community an insight into the writers and illustrators minds and the world of publishing, so instead of simply posting these cancelled author events online the shop started a podcast called ‘Mostly Books Meets’.

The arts have taken a hit and theatres have mostly remained shut. Wallingford Corn Exchange is a venue which is central to the community, usually it would have theatre, shows and films lined up, but this year it has focused on repairs and getting geared up for life after lockdown.

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The venue is hoping to be able to offer films online in addition to screenings but does not now if it will happen in the next few months.

John Evans, marketing director at the Corn Exchange said: “As a small one screen cinema we can’t get the major films in its first week of release without committing to two weeks. We did that with Bond and Harry Potter, but we cannot commit to all the films. So, if we were able to get some of these films and do them on video on demand then that would work quite well.”

The venue hopes to put on a live Agatha Christie show it originally had planned for April 2020 in October this year.