Beloved Cambridgeshire newsagent was flooded with thanks from customers past and present, as its doors closed for the final time after 125 years in business. Burrows Newsagent in Ely served customers for the last time on 26 April.

The shop’s final day saw “people coming in constantly saying ‘thank you’, bringing in presents and cards”, said Annabel Reddick, the shop’s only full-time employee and niece of Burrows. Reddick is the fourth generation of her family to work in the shop, after it was founded by her greatgrandfather in 1899.

It then passed to her grandfather, and most recently was run by her uncle. In that time, the shop has acted as a “hub” for the city through offering a unique “personal service”, Reddick said, explaining that “people come in, they pay for their for papers, they have a chat and they talk about what’s been happening”. She told Retail Express: “It has always been very much a traditional family business.

My mum worked here until a year before she died, six years ago. Another member of staff retired about the same time, but he’s been coming back helping us. Predominantly, it has been just family that has kept it going.”

The shop also provided crucial delivery services to the city’s residents, which Reddick said made Burrows’ decision to retire a difficult one. She said: “It was a massive decision for him. It was so hard because we’ve been part of the community and part of the high street for so long. And with our deliveries, you feel as though you’re letting people down.”

The family were also saddened by owner Jeff missing its final day due to illness, which Reddick called “the hardest thing ever, because he deserved to be here”. Despite efforts to keep closing day “very low-key”, Reddick said the community could not be stopped from showering the shop with messages of thanks. “We made a point of closing the door at 4pm and blocking the door, but we kept getting a ????low of customers and visitors.”

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The fanfare began a week prior to closing day, when more than 80 paper boys and girls throughout its history gathered at the shop to celebrate Burrows’ retirement. “We did a call out for any old paper boys or paper girls to come along. More than 80 of them turned up to take a picture in front of the shop. “You lose count of how many people you’ve employed and how many of these people over the years started their working life with a paper round.

“It was the start of earning a bit of money. It taught them to count and it taught them a bit of responsibility and commitment,” Reddick said. As well as acting like “a tourist information centre” for the city’s historic centre and hosting famous performers from the nearby cathedral, Reddick attributed the shop’s importance to its community to remaining “a proper old-fashioned newsagents”, sticking to magazines and “a few greetings cards”.

“People loved it for what it was, so why change it?” she said. “Every town and city is changing every day. You look around and you’re getting more and more vape shops, charity shops and barbers everywhere. “We’ve seen some massive changes over the years, which I think is why this little shop has always had an appeal, because it’s always been the same, like a comfort blanket,” she added.

Neighbouring businesses also joined the celebrations, posting good wishes online. In a farewell message, the Ely Museum wrote: “This well-loved newsagent has been a mainstay of Ely city centre during this time and played a significant part in the history of Ely High Street, for which we are grateful. Burrows will undoubtedly be missed.”

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