Food for thought over town overheads

Hogan’s Fine Food Company was set up two years ago by former travel agent Joanna Hogan and her partner Graham Pringle.

The couple were determined to offer customers locally sourced produce, particularly fruit and vegetables, as well as meat, poultry and freshly-baked breads.

Since opening their Vicar Street premises in November 2013, the pair have been delighted at the success.

A home delivery service has proved particularly popular and last year they opened a second branch in Main Street, Stenhousemuir.

Within 12 months the company had been named the Best Independent Retailer at The Falkirk Herald Business Awards and were highly commended in 2015.

However, the decision was made to close the Falkirk premises last Saturday to concentrate on the home delivery and Stenhousemuir branch.

Joanna said: “It wasn’t an easy decision to make with a lot of heart-searching and tears. But the overheads were so high that we decided we couldn’t continue there.

“The home delivery service is growing monthly and we still have our Stenhousemuir shop to showcase our products.

“We hope to use the money we are saving from Falkirk to invest in building a proper website and gain more customers.

“However, it is disappointing to leave Falkirk.”