This temporary structure may remind us of the Nightingale hospitals that sprang up last year, but for the residents of Holt village near Wrexham, this ‘pop up’ Budgens store was in many ways just as much of a lifesaver.

“The Budgens that was the only store to serve the village was completely destroyed by fire last June,” explains Card Connection franchisee Martin Rolfe. “In addition to being vital to the local residents, it was very important to me, as it was my Number 1 performing site for selling greeting cards.”

Martin was impressed to see the temporary store come to fruition in just 5 weeks, as Budgens employed many of the engineering strategies that were used for building the Nightingale hospitals at the start of the Covid pandemic.

As a trusted and valued supplier, Martin was called back to install cards before it’s opening but was disappointed to find he had only 25% of the display space to work with, compared to the previous bricks and mortar store. “Fortunately, the manager soon released both parties were missing out when sales figures showed a massive drop in revenue from greeting cards. She was quick to double my allotted display space to 2 metres, with 4 metres promised for the future, when the new permanent site is finally completed.

“It’s an amazing comeback after the devastation of losing this top account,” smiles Martin, “And great to have such commitment from a customer and knowing I’ve played my part in bringing back such a vital hub for the local community.”