A loyal customer of the chocolate store Thornton’s in Grantham has made a plea to the company to keep the outlet open.
Brigadier Charles Smith wrote to the managing director of the company, Kevin Hart, after it was announced that the store in the Isaac Newton shopping centre will close in April.
In his letter Mr Smith, of Bottesford, said: “I fully understand the commercial imperatives facing you under the current trading climate, but I implore you to reconsider your decision to cease trading from this store - the profitability of which has always appeared from the ‘outside’ to be sound - especially notable with the change to ‘outlet’ status, giving the shop the added emphasis to trade well.
“This will be a sad day for Grantham and your many good customers here, if the shop does indeed close and we lose the services provided by Michelle O’Connor ans her remarkable team. I therefore ask you to reconsider your decision regarding the closure of the Grantham shop.”
A spokesman for the company said: “The Grantham store is due to close in late April or early May time, as part of our store closure programme. There are four staff members in Grantham, one full time and three part time employees. We are currently going through the consultation process with the staff and the aim is to redeploy them to other Thorntons stores in the region.”