“I mean, some days we take no money, put it that way. But some of the village stores, the community stores, they’re actually doing better than we anticipated.
“I think we have six stores in the portfolio that actually are trading up on last year.”
Ms Tenison founded her business in 1993, during a recession. “This is my third recession in my relatively long life in retail,” she said.
“We still have to be entrepreneurial,” she added. “We have had to close down some areas of business because of Covid. We’ve had to close our American business, which is just a massive sadness to me.
“Of course, everyone has to look at their overheads, but be creative. Look at those opportunities out there. Recessions bring opportunities.”
