The ownerS of the independently family-owned Bran Tub health store in Lavant Street have called on Petersfield shoppers to shop local to save the High Street.

The plea by Gillian and Kevin Silverthorne comes after the announcement the shop that opened in 1978 is to close after almost 45 years of trading.

Gillian said: “We are very sorry to inform customers The Bran Tub will be closing.

“Shoppers’ habits changed during the pandemic, increasingly using online shops and supermarkets and not returning to the high street.

“Also the energy and cost-of-living crisis has contributed significantly. This all led to rising costs and falling sales and our business became unsustainable.

“And so after countless sleepless nights, we took the very sad decision to call it a day.

“Please continue to support us until we sell all our stock and close our doors. Being an ethical company, we want to be able to meet our obligations and cease trading with some pride and dignity.

“We would like to thank all our staff, past and present.

“In particular, a huge thank you to the current fantastic team who worked through the most difficult of times with enthusiasm and good humour.

“We’ve worked together, been to weddings, christenings and parties together and we’re so proud of this group of people. We wish them all the very best for the future.

“We’d also like to thank all our customers, fellow traders and suppliers for their custom and support over the years.

“There is no date yet for the closure as we need to sell as much of our stock as possible but we will provide updates.

“And please continue to shop local, as you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.”

The Bran Tub was opened in 1978 by Peter and Anna Roberts.

They had previously founded Compassion in World Farming, the charity which campaigns for farm animal welfare, and also Direct Foods, the first UK food manufacturer to use textured vegetable protein to make vegetarian food products.

They believed people would want to buy these products, and other healthy foods and supplements, and The Bran Tub was born.

It was founded on an ethos of providing high-quality and ethically-sound products, coupled with friendly and helpful service.

Back then vegetarianism was very unusual and it sold products that would have proved difficult to find elsewhere.

Gillian Silverthorn is Peter and Anna’s daughter, and has been involved with the shop since the beginning.

Back in 1978 she helped decorate the store prior to opening and was in the shop on day one helping stock the shelves.

In the early 80s she supplied it with home-made food and to this day people still mention her nut burgers and spicy chickpea balls!

In 1990 Gillian took over managing the shop, and in 2010 she handed over the day- to-day running to Kate Makey.

Kate, and several members of staff, started in the shop as teenagers, leaving to start a family and returning years later.

Gillian said: “Kate has done a fantastic job of managing the shop, ably supported by a great team. We’ve had the mums, sons and daughters of current staff working in the shop over the years and at one point had three generations working with us.”

Gillian was still guiding the direction of the shop – for example, it stopped using plastic shopping bags two decades before government regulations.

She also expanded the range of products enormously while raising the bar higher on ethical credentials and sustainability.

In 2018 she instigated the transition from being a vegetarian shop to a vegan one.

But in 2020 along came Covid, and as the pandemic situation started to improve, things took a turn for the worse and it was decided to close the shop.