Pippa's deli good idea

Over the past ten years, she spent time in Belize and South Africa and brought back ideas which she is using to good effect in her newly-opened shop, Global Deli, on Iffley Road, Oxford.

It is a very welcoming place with a light and airy feel. Cushions line a large window seat; shelves are stocked with good, decently priced pottery, as well as fair trade and locally sourced goods; the chillers are full of cheeses, salads and home-made pies and cakes; and a small machine dispenses excellent coffee.

So far, so ordinary. Yet what Ms Hamwee is trying to do is use her shop to sell us the concepts of community, fair trade, seasonality, environmental awareness and making do with what you have got.

She said: "We're promoting the idea that you can't always have whatever you want, because that's why trade patterns have been corrupted, because there's so much consumer choice."

Ms Hamwee finds it hard to understand why supermarkets stock so many different types of things.

"How many types of bleach can you possibly need? How many types of cheese? I'm used to going into a shop where there'll be . . . cheese and . . . tomato, which is fine. You can produce very fine meals out of not very much stuff."

She must be doing something right, because she tripled her forecast for the first month of trading and is finding that when customers come in and cannot get what they want, rather than leave, they will take something else instead.

"People consciously want to support us and it's great, lovely. Just what I hoped for," she said. "We're working towards having a bit of everything, not a massive choice of everything, but one or two different types of things."

As far as possible, she wants to reduce food miles. The vegetables come from a farm near Tiddington and she is looking for local suppliers to sell her milk and dairy products.

She has found a meat supplier, but is finding that the rules are stacked very much against small-scale producers who want to sell to local shops.

"Because most meat is so mass-produced, it goes through a very expensive process to reach the shops and it's quite impractical for small producers to sell in shops.

"There are different rules that govern that than govern farmers' markets. But I'm hoping we'll get round that soon," she said.

Ms Hamwee has no previous retail experience, but she has done catering since her first child was born, ten years ago.

She first thought of opening up the deli when she walked past the premises a year ago and saw it was available to let.

At the time she was not able to take on the lease, but a couple of months later, things started to fall into place.

"I realised as the plan developed how well it fitted with me and what I've been doing for the past ten years," she said.

This included not just her time abroad, but a degree in international development, her career in catering and an abiding interest in fair trade and ethically-sourced food.

She was able to raise finance without recourse to bank loans, relying on her own savings and help from her family.

Although not profit-oriented, she realises that for the business to work, it is something she needs to concentrate on more.

Recognising that business was not her forte, Ms Hamwee contacted Oxfordshire Business Enterprises (OBE). It was set up to provide a free business advice service for Oxfordshire people looking for help either while starting, or in the early stages of running a business.

She has found it an invaluable resource, both in terms of materials and personal encouragement.

"My advisor, Alex Mann, volunteers one day a week and she has supported me much more emotionally than I expected. She knows the practical but she is also really supportive and encouraging."

Ms Hamwee has four children ranging in age from 16 months to ten. Although her honorary niece, Dee, helps her out, she must work phenomenally hard.

She said: "I'm used to it, I've got four kids. I cook and clean and talk to people. It's more of the same for me, apart from all the organisational stuff.

"It takes me longer to do something than someone without children, but it doesn't mean I can't do it. I'm prepared for it to take longer and to earn less money than someone else would doing the same thing, but that's OK."

With plans to offer a lunchtime service to local businesses, turn the back garden into a community kitchen garden and set up a cookery school for children, Ms Hamwee is set for the long haul.

She said: "I believe that if your heart's in the right place and you work hard, then you can just achieve anything you want. I've seen people achieving things all over the world."

Contacts: Global Deli 01865 420 652 Oxfordshire Business Enterprises www.oxonbe.co.uk