Charlotte Billinghurst

After 15 years working in outside catering I was offered the opportunity to start a delicatessen in Shaftesbury, Dorset. I loved the buzz and excitement of retail, it gave me a good grounding and the experience to then be offered the position of fresh food buyer at the prestigious Valvona & Crolla. During my 2 years there, I met my husband and now business partner, Mike, who was the assistant manager. Our dream was to run our own delicatessen and after 2 children and a couple of learning experiences along the way, we opened 181 Delicatessen in August 2014. We have since come second in the Independent Food Shop UK Awards and featured in Peter Irvine’s Scotland the Best publication since 2016. More importantly than any award or accolade, we have a wonderful, loyal community of customers whose repeated visits are all the affirmation we need!  

At the Conference

Safe Harbour: Making Your Bookshop a Destination. Charlotte is one of the speakers in this session alongside Sarah Frame and Rebecca Hall.