High street dealt huge blow as bookshop described as a ‘haven’ announces sad closure

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Mum Stephanie who takes her neurodivergent child to The Chicken and Frog described its closure as "truly heart breaking" adding that it is an "incredible haven" of "knowledge,…

An independent bookshop described as being a "haven" has announced it will sadly close after 14 years. The Chicken and Frog will leave Brentwood town centre in January due to the “ever increasing overheads and the ever decreasing footfall”. In a Facebook post owner Natasha Radford claimed the Government “along with their predecessors don’t seem to be overly concerned about small businesses”. Mrs Radford added: “To stay on top of the recent rates and energy hikes I would need to sell an additional sixteen books a day every day for three hundred and sixty five days of the year.

“It is bleak. And I’m not doing it.” The former teacher told the BBC that the town’s footfall has decreased so much that some days she goes a whole day without making a sale. All is not lost as fans of the beloved store and continue supporting it via Bookshop.org.

The shop’s closure will mean the loss of more than just its bookshelves, with its workshops and sensory space also set to disappear. However, parents have been reassured that school services will remain largely unchanged, with one-to-one SEND tuition continuing either in pupils’ homes or at a new local venue.

Mum Stephanie who takes her neurodivergent child to The Chicken and Frog described its closure as "truly heart breaking" adding that it is an "incredible haven" of "knowledge, support and community". The closure announcement sparked an outpouring of heartfelt tributes on Facebook.

One person wrote: “So sorry to hear this as you’ve been such an asset to Brentwood and agree that unfortunately the government is doing nothing to help businesses. We will have nothing left at this rate and it’s very sad to see the decline.

"You will be a very great loss to our area. Wishing you all the best in the future."

Another added: "Heartbroken to hear this. You’ve been such an amazing part of the high street and the community.

"I’ve loved bringing all of my children in and gifting your lovely wooden book tokens to all their friends.

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Opening of the article, excerpted from Daily Express. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.