Hastings shop to close after 40 years due to ‘death by 1,000 cuts’

Susie Morley, owner of Outdoorsman Supplies Ltd, in Robertson Street, has placed a sign on the shop window explaining why her business is closing.

She said: “There are many reasons why we will be closing. If it had only been one single event then we probably could have survived, but continuously being kicked back is like ‘death by 1,000 cuts’.

"Last year we had our facility to take electronic card payments cancelled because the banking system does not want to support ‘unethical businesses’.

"Not many people carry cash so we have lost sales. Subsequent tries to obtain a card machine from other suppliers have been a waste of time and effort.”

Speaking about the effect of the pandemic on her business, Susie said her shop complied with all the government restrictions.

She said: “We were promised compensation. Our loss of sales amounted to about £80,000 over the three periods of closure. The government help we received amounted to a £20,000 Bounce Back loan and about £16,000 in grants. As a limited company director I was not eligible for the furlough scheme so that meant I was without wages for nine months.”

She added the shop has struggled to get enough stock for the last 18 months.

Susie said: “Many items are no available or impounded somewhere. There is a shortage of steel so that affects knife production. There are shortages of many items. If I can’t buy it, I can’t sell it and that means I can’t meet my overheads.”

She said that there was less army surplus clothing available now, due to the size of the military.

She said: “If there is any available it is fetching premium prices which makes it out of reach of most people’s budget. It is no longer the cheap option for work wear or utility clothing.

"Our turnover has fallen sharply in the last nine months as many people prefer to shop online. Our sales have fallen by 75 per cent compared to four years ago.

"This shop has existed for over 40 years. I have customers from all over the world yet we can’t survive. I would like to thank all my customers and people who have visited us over the years.”

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