One of the first things I noticed about the independent businesses in Exeter was how well they adapted. New ways of selling online were quickly created, delivery networks evolved and they leaned on each other for support.
“At the very beginning there was a kind of a meeting, before social distancing, where we were like, right, what are we going to do to pull through this?” says Hayley, one of the owners of No Guts No Glory at the time I took these images.
“And it wasn’t even like it was a crisis, it was more of a fun challenge. And I feel like as an indie, indie business owners and self-employed people, part of the reason for doing it is to be able to be creative and adaptable, right? So you think, oh what am I going to do? How am I going to adapt my business to this? How am I going to work still with the community? How am I going to use this as an opportunity for something great, and I feel like we had great support.”
By teaming up with other local businesses, No Guts No Glory was able to bring plants to a much wider delivery area. Teaming up with Exeter Tea Merchants meant they could combine deliveries, while Hardy’s Cycles lent them a hand.
“That was amazing as it meant that we could borrow his electric bike, which meant that we could do deliveries by bicycle around Exeter, which Nathan really loved. He’d literally just be cycling around with a whole cart full of huge plants in the front basket, which I think is something that would cheer anybody up”.
“And then we also had help from the House of Hope and Mercy in the Jungle, the Exeter Tea Merchants who just were incredible. They were doing deliveries anyway so they were like, if occasionally you take some of ours, we’ll take some of your plants. It was a huge, huge help to us because it meant that we could reach people a little bit further away, as well. And it also kind of took away that challenge quite instantly. It's like, quite often I think when you do have those challenges, sometimes the answers you really need a right in front of your eyes, and they have just presented themselves to you. If you talk to enough people, especially in a small community, everyone genuinely wants to help each other and to get through hard times together. And so yeah, I feel like in that way, it really kind of got us a little bit closer to a lot of the people that we see every day on the street because we had this kind of handover of goods and we wouldn't see them very often. But it's like that kind of face to face connection where you're like, here are the plants and they’re like, ‘oh yeah’, and then give us feedback on like, how their day was or what they've what people have said when delivered them. And I know that Sancho’s was also involved in that Fore Street love that goes on. So it was just a really great way to keep the business going.”
I photographed Hayley during one of her Indie Market Instagram events, shortly before the shop was handed over to a new owner, Alex, while she and Nathan focused on their vegan cafe, Sacred Grounds. These weekly events enabled No Guts No Glory to highlight their jungle of plants for sale and bring some greenery and life to people’s homes at a time when it was particularly appreciated.
While a change of ownership during lockdown has its own challenges, there were also benefits.
“I feel like it kind of was a really great opportunity because I feel like throughout COVID we worked really, really hard to keep the business going and thriving and it worked really brilliantly. And it kind of raised the profile of the business online as well. And then it meant that we also have the time for Alex to come in when the shop wasn't open to the public. Obviously, with social distancing, we did a lot of things on video chat. But it meant that we could use that time to get him a really good footing so that when he opens tomorrow, it's gonna be a good moment for him because he's had that time. When they first had like the inquiry, they couldn't actually see the space physically. So we did a lot of me doing shop tours, which is kind of like Instagram life anyway. So we just did a lot of that with him and his family as well. And it actually meant I feel like it meant that our relationship with them was maybe even stronger because we couldn't meet them. So we had a lot of like phone chats and video calls. And then when, when Alex could finally come up, and he was able to travel it meant that it was really even more exciting, I think.”
No Guts No Glory reopens tomorrow, so best of luck to Alex!