Retailer burns as fuel prices rocket

With energy prices souring and the cost of fuel continuing to be passed on to consumers as businesses struggle to make a profit, forward thinking family run independent retailer, Harry Tuffins, is bucking the energy spend trend, by ensuring their customers don’t feel the financial pinch when doing their weekly shop.

It’s all down to investment in new ideas and new technology, solutions that deliver savings and benefits to the retailer’s strong and loyal customer base. Explaining the company’s rational, Roy Delves, joint chairman said: “Harry Tuffins has for a quarter of a century used waste cardboard to help heat our Churchstoke store, with the installation of our woodchip burner producing zero emissions any waste cardboard that used to be used in the burner is now recycled and sold. No cardboard from any part of our operations ends up as landfill instead it is all reprocessed into animal bedding five miles from Churchstoke. It’s a great energy and environmental waste solution in one.”

Good products, locally sourced at great prices, is at the heart of Harry Tuffins trading and pricing structure; by keeping the company’s overhead energy costs down they underpin their ability to compete with multiple supermarkets and retailers.

Roy, added further: “Over the years we have reaped the benefit by means of reduced energy costs, reduction in waste material sent to landfill and all the associated costs in transporting waste matter. Some years ago when Churchstoke and the surrounding area experienced one of the worst snow storms in living history resulting in the loss of electricity to the surrounding area, Harry Tuffins became the community focal point as we were able to offer people hot food and somewhere to sleep as the shop and cafe were kept nice and warm by the Farm 2000 cardboard burner as well as our generator providing power. We had heat, light and cooking facilities. I couldn’t tell you how many meals I made as I lost count after the first couple of hours.”

The savings made through their initial investment and the ongoing use of the company’s woodchip burners to heat their premises means Harry Tuffins’ customers continue today to enjoy value for money goods supplied by an independent retailer which serves rural communities along the Welsh, English border.