21/10/2026
It’s 29 years this week since we opened Rafters in October 1997. What a journey it’s been.
We’ve seen retail change beyond anything we could have imagined. There have been plenty of ups and downs, thankfully more ups, but there were times when things could easily have gone either way.
When we started, we had no money and didn’t even own a van. We didn’t inherit the business. We took out a loan to buy it, roughly the same amount as our mortgage at the time.
The shop was losing money and in serious decline, but I believed I could stop the rot and turn it around. I’d been in the fruit and veg trade since I was a teenager and thought I knew enough to make it work.
Little did I know, the lessons were only just beginning!
Nothing gets you out of bed in the early hours, in awful weather, for a 50-mile journey to the wholesale market to be there at 4am quite like knowing the cheque you wrote yesterday needs covering, or a loan payment is due.
I remember the local bank manager ringing me early one morning to say I needed to get £500 into the bank that morning or a cheque would bounce. He was a great bloke. Can you imagine that now? We haven’t even got a bank manager these days, just a telephone number for a call centre!
We got through those times, learned a lot and kept going. It makes you resilient and resourceful, although I’d happily have learned a few of those lessons the easy way.
Looking back at those early days, I could never have imagined we’d go on to be named Best Greengrocer in the UK two years running at the Farm Shop & Deli Awards, then win Best Independent Retailer at the Yorkshire Life magazine awards.
Now we’re finalists for Best Independent Retailer in Yorkshire at the Deliciously Yorkshire Awards in Harrogate in a couple of weeks.
I do have to pinch myself sometimes.
Those awards mean a lot. They’re a credit to our team and all the hard work that goes into Rafters every day.
Running a business today is still far from easy, and retail certainly has its share of challenges. But 29 years on, I’m proud of what we’ve built and feel we’re well placed to keep moving forward, with a fantastic team alongside us.
And none of it would have been possible without you, our customers. Whether you’ve been shopping with us since 1997 or have only recently found us, thank you for supporting us.
You’ve helped us build something that means an awful lot to us.
Andy & Tracy
