Eighteen months ago, Hugh Scale watched from one side of the road as his 40 years of hard work went up in smoke on the other. It was 10pm on November 11 and his business, the Four Seasons farm shop on the outskirts of Tenby, was all but gone.
His wife Jennette, 60, turned to him and said that was it, she'd had enough. But Hugh, a self-confessed workaholic who initially started the business as a side-line for the family farm, did what he's always done: carry on working.
Fire crews left the shop, on the A487 in Pembrokeshire, at gone 2am on the Friday morning. By 6am, Hugh was back at the premises taking orders for his wholesale customers. The gutted shop had barely cooled and already Hugh and some valued friends had organised a temporary marquee to be erected where the timber framed shop had once stood.
That marquee stayed for 18 months and his dedicated team of staff worked through two winters in the freezing cold and damp air to continue serving customers. He spent £26,000 on the marquee hire he said, not to mention the extra cost of hiring fridges and freezers.
Now, just in time for the 2023 summer season, Hugh has finally reopened his permanent new shop and it really is the shop of his dreams. The modern-looking wooden-clad building sits next to the busiest road into Tenby and a giant cow looks out from the windows in the roof.
It's bright and airy and custom-built for the Four Seasons business, which includes Hugh and Jennette and their two children, Lois and Tudor. It's their future, said Hugh.
Four Seasons started out as a small greengrocer's shop in Kilgetty which, over the years, expanded into Saundersfoot and Tenby. Then about 15 years ago he bought the place on the main road and slowly, it became the focus of the business. Lois runs the florist side of things while Hugh, 58, and Jennette run the greengrocer and delicatessen alongside their son Tudor.
They'd decided to close the Tenby shop a few moths before the devastating fire and everything was at the site in New Hedges. "Everything was under one roof here," said Hugh. "It was a total wipe out of our history. We lost everything."
Hugh had been at the shop until 6.30pm on the night of the fire and everything seemed okay. But by 10pm, the whole place went up in flames and the fire investigation could only surmise that it was a faulty solar panel that had started it.
"I stood across the road looking at the shop burning," Hugh continued. "And I turned to Jennette and I said what are we going to do about our wholesale customers." He was quite literally on the phone while the shop was still burning: "We have so many loyal customers," Hugh added. "We had to serve them."
The whole family were "devastated" by seeing everything burnt to a crisp and Hugh admitted it "hit me for six". He added: "Jennette was all for giving up. But you either roll over or you fight back don't you. We had 40 years of work behind us and all the relationships we'd built up. I don't know anything else."
Hugh has a continual smile fixed on his face. It's a kind one and a genuine one too. He greets every customer arriving for a nose at the new place as he's separating Pembrokeshire new potatoes from a large sack into smaller bags. "These are Pembrokeshire earlies," he said proudly. "The first in the county." Hugh grew them himself at his nursery. He tries to supply seasonal vegetables and grows as much as he can himself. The black Russian tomatoes are particularly special, he said.
"I've always lived and breathed the shop," he continued. He pointed out all the local producers, from the small individually-packaged cheesecakes to the local honey that only produces 45 jars a year. His farming background taught him to get on with things, he said.
The Easter weekend was the busiest they've ever been, in part because of the nice weather but also because people were keen to have a look round, he said. "It does look bigger and brighter," Hugh added. "People seem to like it." It's certainly a change from the marquee, which used to "rattle and shake in the wind" and which saw his staff turn up to work in wellies so they didn't get wet feet. Tins turned rusty in the depths of winter and labels peeled off jars, Hugh said. It's not how he wanted his shop to look.
"I was 57 when the fire happened and I did think am I too old to start again," he said cheerfully. "But it's the kids' future as well. My mum was a florist too and she would be proud of her granddaughter." Business booms during the summer months, pretty much as soon as the sign goes out for Pembrokeshire new spuds: "It's like a light switch is turned on," Hugh said.
Locals and tourists fill the shop, even on a mid-week afternoon. Hugh couldn't be happier: "It's the shop I dreamt of," he said. "The fire gave us a chance to build it the way we wanted it. It's open and airy. It was a chance to put the ideas in my mind into reality."
After "scratching his ideas" out on scrap paper, it's been rewarding to see it come to life: "I just drew a sketch on a pad with three peaks and vaulted ceilings and it just went from there," he said. "It's been quite emotional seeing what I've drawn on paper come to life. It wasn't that bad really."
His secret to success is really quite simple: "I take pride in fruit and vegetables," Hugh added. "I get a buzz out of people enjoying the produce and saying how nice it is. I am here 24/7; that's what they say about me. I live and breathe it. It's lovely that Tudor and Lois are following through. It's one of the reasons to keep going. It's worth working for isn't it? It's the kids' futures."
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