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Third generation newsagent closes after 125 years

Katy Prickett
BBC News, Cambridgeshire
Annabel Reddick Jeff Burrows who is smiling slightly. He is wearing a grey sweatshirt and is standing at the counter in his shop. Behind him is shelving with various items and piles of files. Annabel Reddick
Jeff Burrows said the shop was closing because it was time to retire - he has worked every day except Christmas Day for 20 years

A newsagent which has been delivering papers to a city's residents for more than 125 years is to close after its 76-year-old owner said it was "time for a holiday".

Burrows was set up by Jeff Burrows' grandfather James Frederick in Ely, Cambridgeshire, at the end of the 19th Century. It will close on 26 April.

The cash-only shop opens at 05:00 every day except Christmas, as well as deploying about 20 girls and boys to deliver papers to nearly 700 "very loyal customers".

Mr Burrows, who began working full time in the store in 1965, said hundreds of people had visited the shop to say they would miss it, but it was time to retire.

Jeff Burrows A fuzzy black and white image of two men and a boy standing outside a newsagent in Ely. The man on the left is wearing a dark coat, flat cap and scarf. The boy in the middle is wearing a school cap, jacket and scarf and is holding up an old broadsheet newsapper. The man on the right is wearing a three piece suit. To his left is the shop wndow and boards advertising the Daily Express and Morning Post. Jeff Burrows
Former paper boys "from 30, 40 and 50 years ago" have contacted the shop after it told customers it was to close, said Mr Burrows

Mr Burrows was 25 when he took over the business from his father Percy in 1973 - although his father continued to work in the shop.

He said he can "just about remember" being driven in his father's van to collect the daily papers from the city's railway station, arriving on the 06:40 train.

But in recent decades, the papers have arrived by lorry direct to the shop between 04:30 and 05:00.

His niece Annabel Reddick, the only employee, then opens the doors to the first customers.

"There's at least six before 06:00 and it gets busier after then," said Mr Burrows.

Jeff Burrows A black and white image showing the former JF Burrows shop. It shows a single-storey building with a pitched roof. A man and woman are on either side of the building with another person standing in a doorway. Their left is a three-storey building with a sign saying Dove Tobacconist. Two small boys are leaning against the tobacconist's window. Jeff Burrows
The shop was initially further up the High Street and close to the city's market square. At one time it delivered papers to more than 2,000 customers

The business has stuck with a cash or cheque-only model because "by the time you've paid charges, you'd make very little", he said.

Mr Burrows paid tribute to the 500 paper girls and boys, most aged between 13 and 16, employed over the years.

"They're as good as gold, they arrive between 06:30 and 06:50 and we've have no problems at all, even all during Covid," Mr Burrows said.

Jeff Burrows A black and white image showing Burrows newsagent. It has a large plate-glass window and the entry is on the left. In front of the buildings are four billboards, advertising publications including the Daily Telegraph and the post. A bike is resting against its far wall.Jeff Burrows
Its current location on the High Street is where Mr Burrows began helping out the family business as a school boy and he "learnt to count very early"

He still sees the appeal of newspapers - "the real thing - and my very loyal customers agree," he said, so he has sold his round to a national company.

Burrows sent the customers a letter thanking them and adding it was "proud and honoured to be part of the community and a small part of Ely's history for all these years".

"We haven't had to close, this is purely about retirement - and spending more time at the caravan in north Norfolk," Mr Burrows said.

Getty Images A grainy colour photo of Burrows newsagent. It has Burrows above its plate glass window. The window has shelves within with books propped up. Three billboards are leaning against the entry. Getty Images
Mr Burrows is looking forward to his first holiday in 22 years

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