The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
A popular shop selling refurbished cycles and helping a South Holland charity is closing its doors for good.
Despite managing to stay trading during the height of the pandemic, the economic situation means PaulJo Bikes will be shutting for business later this spring.
Having started more than ten years ago as a workshop hobby, the business moved into its Winsover Road home in Spalding over three years ago.
Run by Paul Watson and Jo Randall, the business restores pre-loved bicycles and sells them on while giving some of the proceeds to the Lighthouse Charity – raising £12,000.
But soaring costs and falling demand means it’s time for the pair to call a halt.
“We managed to work through the whole pandemic but there has now been a huge knock-on effect and it’s made things very difficult,” said Paul. “We were buying 50 bikes at a time and of those 25 would be scrap. We sent them to South Africa and a shipping container was £1,000. Now it’s £12,000 and that’s just one thing. They just get weighed-in for scrap here and don’t make anything.
“Footfall has dropped right off and we used to sell a lot of bikes to European workers for the factories, but there aren’t so many of those now so sales are down as well,” he added.
The couple will be spending the summer months helping at a festivals run by a family member and will consider their future in the autumn.
“We want to still help the Lighthouse and just need to see what happens,” said Paul.
The shop will continue trading until around the end of May and currently has 25 per cent off the price of children’s bikes, with more than 300 in stock.
Further details of the sale are on the PaulJo Bikes Facebook page.
