SIOP HAVARDS
THE 1st COMMUNITY OWNED HARDWARE SHOP IN BRITAIN
Shwmae/hello everyone!
Welcome to our July Newsletter, bringing you up to date with our activities since May.
The weather hasn’t been that wonderful in the meantime as you know. Anecdotally this has affected bookings for holiday lets and delayed the opening of the campsites in and around Trefdraeth. However, although there’s been a ‘knock-on’ of a slightly reduced footfall into Havards, trading has remained broadly positive.
A further positive is that the wet weather has seen the increased sales of the range of bedding plants and herbs – these are supplied by Penrallt and have proved to be very popular indeed.

Interestingly, Betty demonstrated how Havards can provide solutions to almost everything when a lady came into the shop recently looking for help to repair the sole of one of her trainers.
Betty’s solution was: ‘Super Glue’, Duct Tape and, just to set it all off, three strips of electrical insulation tape (like Adidas). See what you think!
We’ve also been busy “getting our ducks in a row” for the Summer season: as you will see from the list of products we’ve highlighted below, Havards can provide a comprehensive range of beach and water sports gear including fishing sets, towels, changing robes, wet suits, life jackets for young and old as well as lifejackets for dogs.
In the anticipation that the summer holidays will bring settled weather, we can also provide barbeques and BBQ fuel, together with a very handy extendable fork for toasting the essential marshmallows over the coals!
We look forward to welcoming you all over the Summer – don’t forget that if there’s anything you want to ask us, please pop in or give us a call.
BUSINESS NEWS
Havards’ First Year Trading
Details of the results of our first year of trading (2023/4) will be provided at our AGM, with a report being circulated in advance to our investors.
Our first quarter's trading (April to June '24) in the new financial year shows that turnover (adjusted for inflation) is approximately 10% higher at £59,000 than for the same quarter last year. This is particularly encouraging as many businesses in the town were reporting that visitor numbers were down during that period. Clearly if we can build a core business based on community use, then that is beneficial for the longer term.
However, we are now faced by higher utility costs and general inflationary increases on other costs and services. In addition, our net profit has been further reduced by higher staff costs. Consequently we are seeing a net profit for the quarter of £2,000 (this was £7,000 in the same period last year). Nevertheless cashflow remains strong.
It is good to see more visitors around the town at present, even though the weather is not 'settled', and hopefully this will benefit Havards over the summer period.
Our AGM
This is being held on 15th August at Newport Boat Club at 7 pm in the Commodore’s Lounge on the first floor. Refreshments and nibbles will be provided.
As we require a quorum of 40 members attending the AGM, we do hope that as many as possible of our investors and friends will be able to join us in person. However, for those of you who aren’t able to be in the local area at that time, we will also be providing the option to join us on-line through a Zoom link. This was sent to members in the AGM announcement and we will send this out again before the AGM.
Update on Plans for Reshaping Our Sales Area
We are still hoping that we will be able to undertake significant works this Autumn/Winter to reconfigure the ground floor sales area as well as making better use of the first and second floors.
We’re continuing our discussions with the relevant planning and regulation departments to establish the best way forward for both the potential relocation of the office to the first floor and creating a stand-alone flat on the second floor.
We hope to bring you further news on these discussions at the AGM on 15th August.
PRODUCT NEWS
In each Newsletter we try to provide you with an idea of the spread of products that Siop Havards stocks. Here are some seasonal highlights we hope might be of interest to you and your families and friends over the summer holidays.
Beach Gear

In addition to the range of towelling beach robes (£14.99 each) we told you about last time, Havards now stocks a very neat '2 In 1' Beach Towel and Drawstring Carry Bag (£15.99).
The bag folds out to an adult sized beach towel – so you can carry your sunscreen, costume and snacks as well as dry yourself after an energetic swim.
And don’t forget the TWF 'Turbo' Wet Suits priced from £24 - £27 for kids and £37 - £45 for adults.
Life Jackets

We have a fresh stock of adult life jackets – we have chosen the Epiq 165 from their 2024 range: this is an auto inflating life jacket, made from recycled materials and costs £140. We also stock a range of kids' life jackets (3 – 15 kg and 15 – 30 kg) – these cost £50.
OS Maps of Pembrokeshire

Essential for both frequent and new visitors alike, these Ordinance Survey 'Explorer' and 'Landranger' maps are beautifully detailed and cost £12.99 each. The GB Road Atlas costs just £8.99
Natural Cleaning Products

From long-established producer of natural household cleaning products, Dri-Pak’s range includes: soda crystals, white vinegar, bicarbonate of soda, salt and citric acid. These cost from £2.50 each per pack or bottle.
Fishing Set

For the keen fishing enthusiasts or newcomers to the sport this is an all-in-one pack to meet most of your needs. This costs just £32 and contains:
- 6ft extending rod
- Reel
- Rope
- Swivels\sinkers
- Bobbers
- Soft lures
- Assorted hooks
- Accessories box
BBQ Forks

Your barbeque tool kit isn’t complete without this: an extendable fork that allows you all the pleasure of toasting your marshmallows safely and without them ending up a sticky mess on your BBQ grill. These cost just £3.20 each.
Repair Services - provided by John Harries

As you’re all probably aware by now, John is able to provide a cornucopia of 'at cost' repair services including:
- Knife and blade sharpening: kitchen and garden tools
- Blade sharpening: for smaller petrol, electric and manual lawnmowers
- Mechanical repairs: for petrol and manual mowers
- Sewing machine repairs: both manual and computerised
- IT repairs: phones, tablets and laptops
Most of these services are provided by local experts in Cardigan and Fishguard. As blade sharpening and repairs for mowers are undertaken in Haverfordwest, John would make a small charge for 'petrol money'.
If you require any of these services, please call John Harries on 07804 487642 to discuss and make arrangements. Please note that we can't yet offer to re-sharpen saws.
Remember everything is charged at cost – we add nothing to the price quoted.
STAFF AND VOLUNTEER NEWS
The original target when we set out was to establish a network of 12 shop-based volunteers and 5 specialists in key cutting. To date we have established a ‘core’ of 11 volunteers, including our target of 5 who can now cut keys.
So there’s room for more! If you, or anyone you know, would like to spend a few hours a week on a regular basis helping out alongside our staff, please let us know by calling into the shop, phoning us on 01239 820300 or e-mailing us at info@siophavards.cymru Thank you!
INVESTOR NEWS
Share Certificates
There are a good number of as yet unclaimed certificates at Siop Havards. We will bring those certificates that remain along to the AGM in August.
E-Mail Addresses and Junk Mail Settings
We've had a couple of investors tell us that they hadn’t heard from us recently; it would appear that this was because they had changed their e-mail addresses since registering their details with us.
Do please remember to:
- Let us know if you change your e-mail address or any of your contact details
- Also a general piece of advice is to make sure you set siophavards.cymru as a safe domain in your ‘junk mail’ settings
Newsletter Feedback
We’d like to understand whether our Newsletters cover the topics you are interested in. We’d welcome your thoughts and suggestions: you can e-mail these to info@siophavards.cymru – we look forward to hearing from you!
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
Community Activities in Havards
As we develop ideas for the best use of the space on the ground and first floors, we are looking at the potential to organise (or indeed for others to organise) group activities; potentially where the office is currently, adjacent to the kitchen area.
For instance these might include:
- Bread baking courses
- Trouble shooting basic domestic plumbing or electrical appliance issues
- Talks on Preseli walks
- A local Repair Shop
- A warm place to meet and have a cuppa
Wholefoods Shop

We are continuing to support the project to buy the Wholefoods Shop as another community asset. The public share offer went 'live' on 11th July at a launch event at the Memorial Hall.
You can purchase shares by completing an on-line application at www.projectwholefoods.cymru (minimum purchase is £100).
Community Police Initiative
We have been approached by a newly formed Neighbourhood Watch scheme to be networked throughout Dyfed – Powys.
They are inviting new members and volunteers who share their vision of creating a safer environment to become part of their new network.
If you have any suggestions on what to include within their association and schemes across the county, please email Ajay Owen at dyfedpowyswatch@gmail.com, call him on 07300 485129 or visit their website: https://www.ourwatch.org.uk/dyfedpowys
Nevern Village Hall – Welsh Folklore Event 4th October
Nevern Village Hall is putting on an evening of Welsh Folklore described in music and voice. There will also be a pig roast on the evening.
Tickets will be on sale shortly - so watch out for the posters around town and surrounding villages as well as news on https://www.Nevernvillagehall.cymru
And Lastly…………
Diolch/Thank you for your continued interest and generosity; it is very much appreciated. We look forward to seeing you in Havards over the Summer holidays with your friends and family.
And don’t forget that you can still be part of the Siop Havards project by buying shares either for yourself or a child – an opportunity to make them feel even more part of the community by becoming a member of the Havards Community Shop. More information can be found by using this link: https://siophavards.cymru/invest.htm
The Siop Havards Team