Nettleham services reopen after fire

Updated: 22nd October 2025

A community food store and post office which shut following a major fire earlier this year have reopened, with local good causes receiving a funding boost to mark the occasion.

Nettleham Food Store and Post Office, which closed in April 2025, opened its doors today after an extensive period of renovation works.

The food store has new-look signage inside and out, plus an extended food-to-go area, including a Red Bull fridge, Costa Express and Tango Ice Blast machines. More chilled products are available and new ranges include pick and mix and a selection of gifts from Lincolnshire Co-op’s Love Local range.

Lincolnshire Co-op’s Community Champions scheme sees local groups receive a donation when dividend card holders shop in store. The society has donated £250 to kickstart fundraising in Nettleham, with the total collected over the next four months split between Nettleham Football Club, United Lincolnshire Hospitals Charity and Nettleham Woodland Trust.

There’s a food bank collection point in each Lincolnshire Co-op food store. When Nettleham closed, the society gave a contribution to Lincoln Community Larder to make up for lost donations. That will be topped up with £100 worth of food to celebrate the opening. A £250 donation has also been made to Nettleham Community Hub as a contribution to Nettleham Christmas Market.

Representatives from all the community groups were invited to the store on opening day, and local councillors from Nettleham Parish Council and West Lindsey District Council were invited to tour the store the evening before.

Store Manager Jason Leadbetter said people in the village were delighted to see the store back open.

“When I opened the doors at 7am, there were 20 people outside! We’ve been delighted to see so many familiar faces. Everyone has said how pleased they are to see us back open. They’re all really positive about how the store is looking and the new ranges too,” he said. “It’s also been wonderful for the team of colleagues to come back together on the shop floor and catch up with our customers.”

Lincolnshire Co-op’s Chief Operating Officer Steve Leach said the project had taken a mammoth effort from teams across the society, as well as from local contractors UDCS, Lindum, Eddisons and PC Coaches.

“When the fire happened, we pulled together a team of specialists from across our business with the shared aim of getting our valued services back open as soon as possible, but also to support the Nettleham community during the inevitable period of closure,” he said.

“We are at the heart of our local communities, and we knew that many of our customers in Nettleham would struggle without access to a nearby outlet for everyday essentials. Our community team worked with PC Coaches to provide a free shuttle bus to our services in a nearby village, and this was set up within a week of the fire.

"We also immediately started exploring the idea of a pop-up shop too. This took a huge amount of work from our operational and support teams and we were delighted that we were able to open just over a month after the incident.

“Those teams have continued to work together through lots of different challenges to get our food store and post office back open. I’m proud of all the colleagues who have been part of this journey.

“We know this has been disruptive for people in Nettleham and we’d like to thank the community for bearing with us. We hope they enjoy the new look and what’s on offer in store.”