Business Focus: Alexandra Nurseries

With the current government measures in place, we have made following adjustments to how we operate: • Our physical shop is closed until further notice, but we are currently operating a wine delivery service (Free to selected postcodes) and a meal take away service • We are constantly adding new exciting stock to our online shop. • We also offer online wine tastings, to keep customers busy and entertained! We are currently also: • Offering to pick up customers’ donations towards Lewisham Foodbank as we drop off their Milkround orders • Offering 15% off all proceeds of our Buy Them a Coffee Case (6 Bottles) towards @buythemacoffee_kch who help Kings College Hospital healthcare professionals by buying them supplies for their wellbeing centres during the COVID-19 outbreak. www.161foodanddrink.com

Local Fashion Designer Makes Happy® Face Covers Karen Arthur is a 58 year old women’s bespoke fashion designer and sewing tutor. She works primarily with ankara and African printed fabrics. With normal client meetings on hold until the lockdown is over and her airbnb guests cancelled overnight, Karen found income ceased suddenly. Luckily she transported her sewing machine and some fabric from her Catford studio to her home in Forest Hill just before lockdown was announced. The first thing Karen made was a face cover for herself out of leftover fabric she loves and posted a photo on twitter. Now she is making wear your happy® face covers daily for a client base that shows no signs of abating... especially since the Mayor of London endorsed wearing face coverings as an extra layer of protection recently. Karen says “Sewing face covers is saving my sanity and giving me an added purpose during lockdown. Not to mention giving me back some control over my finances and security for my family.” 07930 867826 Hot Yoga Stevie closed the studio doors on St Patrick’s Day, Tuesday 17th March after the 6.45am class and then taught his first ever online class that evening at 6.30pm! They now have 18 classes on the timetable with six different teachers offering Power Yoga, Yin Yoga, Meditation and Beginner Friendly classes.

“We’ve decided to keep the introductory offer £25 for 30 days open indefinitely - I was considering introducing new prices/class packs but understand that It’s a really tough time for everyone and I want to keep access simple and affordable. So you can book a single class (£6) or a month’s worth of yoga (£25) by visiting: www.hotyogapeckham.co.uk/book-now. There are also FREE classes for NHS key workers, who just need to drop me an email stevie@hotyogapeckham.co.uk for a free pass. The support from members has been amazing and so heart-warming. Spreading the word would be a massive help though, we could do with a lot more yogis right now! I genuinely believe that our yoga practice is helping us all stay connected, healthy and grounded through this.” Crofton Books Jason Shelley from Crofton Books says: “We are trying our best to stay open *safely* through Covid, opening limited hours from Wednesday to Saturday each week with two people max in at a time. We offer an appointment service whereby individuals can enter during a fixed timeframe and I can close the doors (and discuss book choices, books etc, at a distance). Some locals have offered to home deliver, for people in isolation. We have delivered books for free helped by locals who are Kei (who fortunately has a motorcycle), a retired headmistress, Edwin an Australian teaching assistant, Annie, a writer in Honor Oak and James, an urban planner who lives in Crofton Park. Artists Kathryn Maple and Alison Boult, who are neighbours to the bookshop offer me tea in a flask and now we are collaborating on some work to exhibit.” @croftonbooks | 07572 869750

The SE22 Piano School The SE22 Piano School has adapted to lockdown by offering online piano lessons for all of our students that used to come to our business premises just off Lordship Lane. I trialled out online lessons with my students a week before the lockdown announcement which enabled my team of teachers to have a system in place that would work as soon as we had to close the doors on our shop. In addition to teaching piano, I also teach online fermentation workshops where I show people how to make kimchi, sauerkraut and kombucha. I have been doing these online via Zoom and all profits go to my chosen local charity which is Westminster House Youth Club in Nunhead. You can find out more about this on my Instagram page: @southlondonferments. Lorraine Liyanage | www.se22piano.co.uk

Remember to check out our website and social media channels for new stories every day.

At Alexandra Nurseries in Penge we are proud of our place in the community and delighted to find people feel the same. Our existing customers, neighbours, friends and newcomers have been keen to support us with kind words and custom! Of course this would be one of the peak times in our industry and it has hit us all hard, including our loyal growers, nurseries and suppliers. We have found the relationships built from 8 years of trade; of trust, loyalty and flexibility - both ways around - have kept us in good stead. Small independents have been able to suddenly downsize, re think how to operate and market and between us we are just about keeping each other going. Moving into ‘Amazon’ territory has been very challenging especially for a small shop with no existing online sales operation! We have all become perhaps too familiar with a click and collect climate and expect our stuff tomorrow! We have one person and one phone-line, one person on admin and email and a very talented instagrammer! With over 100 queries a day on those three platforms it’s been fun! So to all your readers— so sorry if we didn’t return your call, you couldn’t get through, or we lost you somehow - please forgive that and return for excellent cake and coffee and browse the lovely vintage garden things and quality plants soon . We thank too our lovely loyal furloughed team, who have been patient and trusted us as we work through the uncertainty. Being partly family run has been important giving an incentive to adapt and proceed beyond a straight business ethic, and the directors of the company have been working flat out to keep on top of everything. Our 8th birthday this week would have been our opportunity to greet you all with tea and cake. Watch out for the celebrations next year! Being a small business has allowed us to remain true to our values and, while we are not perfect, we rejoice in that. We are a creative company made up of different personalities and skill sets, and in the current context this has meant we have the ability to adapt. We are fortunate to be a garden centre as the demand for our products remains strong, It has been satisfying to help people enjoy Spring, get into their gardens, connect with loved ones from a distance - they’ve been sending plants seeds soap and vouchers! Enabling people to create, grow and be in touch with nature has always been our aim - we are still here and hopefully back to full speed soon!

Estate House, 56B Parish Lane, London SE20 7LJ alexandranurseries@hotmail.co.uk 07939 110 970 | 020 8778 4145 www.alexandranurseries.co.uk Business Focus in Lockdown

We caught up with one of our lovely clients, John from Alexandra Nurseries

I support people in finding the courage to: • Make Life Transitions • Find Purpose & Fulfilment • Move Beyond Boundaries For a FREE discussion contact me on 07970 950225 mark.leylandsmith@btinternet.com linkedin.com/in/markleylandsmith www.oceanscollective.com