Halton Leeds: Locals gather for grand opening of 'heart of the community' convenience store and Post Office

Moe and Nikki Panesar first took over the shop in 2020, with plans to modernise the Post Office and bring a convenience store to the local Halton community.

While working towards their goals, the Covid-19 pandemic slowed down the process substantially. But as they got started again, refurbishment saw a number of local amenities temporarily taken away from the local residents.

Speaking at the grand opening on Friday October 13, Nikki said: “When we closed for refurbishment it had a bit of an effect on the local residents, as they had to go further afield to get the services that they could have gotten over here.

“For this area, a [Post Office] is very important, because it has been established here for over 40 years. It’s the heart of the community. They need this here, especially the elderly.”

The finished store is a spacious convenience store selling most day-to-day essentials, with the Post Office in the back corner. On the other side of the shop is the new Beer Cave. A walk-in cooling room stocked with beer, wine and ciders.

Shop regulars and locals gathered at the convenience store despite the rainy weather for the ribbon cutting, which saw the official grand opening of the new post office.

After the ribbon was cut by no other than Mickey and Minnie Mouse, customers were offered goodie bags and pastries and small sandwiches.

Moe and Nikki are also raising funds for the next door Templenewsam Halton Primary School to provide the school with new books and to improve the library. As part of the opening ceremony, a raffle is being held with prices to help raise money.

Post Office Network Provision Lead Tig Khehra, who helps with the operation of Post Offices around West Yorkshire, was also in attendance at the opening. He said: "It's been absolutely fantastic. I'm happy with how it's all gone, and it's great to see the local community attend and support their branch.

"We've had lots of great feedback on the customer service the branch offers, and the fact that they are a big part of the community, such as the local school."

Moe and Nikki added: "We want to thank the community for supporting us, and the feedback that we've been given.

"People are quite shocked with how much room we've created in the building, because it used to be a quite small Post Office."