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 Bumblebee partners: Iain Oglivie, Gillian Haslop and John Grayson in the first Bumblebee store which opened 26 years ago. |
End of an era for bean street’s organic trendsetters
THE partners who run the Bumblebee health food shop in Camden Town are splitting up after nearly 26 years of working together.
John Grayson, Gillian Haslop and Iain Oglivie, the healthy eating enthusiasts behind the Brecknock Road shop, have turned their organic food grocers into one of the area’s independent success stories.
But John and Gillian have decided to end their links with Bumblebee and will be setting up their own food outlet in Kentish Town Road, while Iain plans to continue business as usual at Bumblebee.
The three have gained a reputation for being trendsetters, their success attracting similar shops to Bean Street, as Brecknock Road is known by locals.
Iain, who is taking over his partners’ share in the business, came to London from his native Glasgow in the 1970s to study food nutrition. He recalled: “I became interested in growing bean sprouts with friends. We were the only people growing bean sprouts in Britain at the time. So I popped into Bumblebee to sell them to the then owner, Graeme Wilkinson.”
The shop had recently opened, and Graeme asked Iain if he wanted a job. Iain said: “Within three months, I was a partner, and I have been here ever since.”
For John and Gillian, leaving Bumblebee will be the end of an era.
John first got a job there in the early 1980s. He said: “I became involved in a wholefood co-operative in the north, and then when I moved to London I got a job here.”
He has seen the wholefood movement change beyond recognition.
He added: “The food movement was allied to the feminist movement, the co-operative movement, groups with radical environmental ideas. Now, you have groups like Fresh and Wild on the high street, and they are owned by a multi-billion dollar company.”
John and Gillian plan to continue to serve good food in their new Kentish Town Road shop, Earth Natural Foods, which opens at the end of this month. |
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