Second small Newbury business to close its doors in one month

The owner of Weavers Walk store Just Add Grapes, Greg Brighouse, said that he was moving his business because there was not enough passing trade at his current location.
However, he added his thanks to all his regular customers who had supported him thus far.
Mr Brighouse plans to move his business to Norwich and open a shop amid a cluster of other independent stores.
He said: “If you go to Cirencester or Henley, you have a group of independent shops,” he said. “We have got Hethertons, Oldbury’s... we are just so far apart, and there’s nowhere (independent) to buy fruit and vegetables. Newbury’s not really a food destination.”
A closing-down sale will run until the shop shuts on January 31.
The news comes one week after Bartholomew Street business Kitchenmonger closed, following a decision to give planning permission for the first floor of the building to be turned into a flat.
The shop closed last Tuesday and, like Mr Brighouse, Kitchenmonger manager Paul Redman sent his thanks to all his customers over the 13 years the shop has been open in Newbury.
He said that current planning policy, combined with pressure on local councils by central Government to build more housing, made it too easy for independent shops to be lost through change-of-use applications.
Speaking to the Newbury Weekly News last week, Mr Redman said: “Newbury is going to have fewer and fewer independent shops; it’s going to turn into one of those anonymous towns with the same shops, same restaurants.”
Newbury resident and former Kitchenmonger customer, Gerry Spatharis, said: “I’m so sad to see this shop go, just like Tiger Tiger.
“Independent shops are the ones that have character and soul. Paul is right to speak out. We need small businesses protected.”
The Kitchenmonger in Hungerford remains open.