Northern Ireland family celebrate 25 successful years of community service

The team at Spar Lenadoon in West Belfast is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the community store.

The store, which has been owned and operated by Damian and Patricia Morgan since 1999, began with just six employees, and now employs 18 people from the local area.

Over the years, Damian and Patricia have made significant investments into the store completing four refurbishments totaling over £250,000 to expand the offering for shoppers.

The refurbishments included new flooring, fridges, freezers, shelving and a reconfiguration of the layout, as well as updating customer checkouts, including adding an additional checkout, improving instore efficiency for shoppers.

The community has always been at the heart of the store, as the team show support to a number of charities and community groups including South-West Foodbank, Marie Curie and local charity, Fight For Alfie, as well as supporting St. Oliver Plunkett Primary School’s annual sports days.

The store team, alongside the help of the community, also raised money for the installation of an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) outside the store, which is available for the community 24/7, providing essential access to potentially lifesaving equipment even when the store is not open.

Patricia Morgan said: “We wanted to mark the anniversary with a customer appreciation day to thank our shoppers and all in our community who have supported us for the past 25 years. We love serving this community, getting to know all our shoppers and seeing friendly faces instore every day.

“We also wish to thank our dedicated store team who always go the extra mile for our shoppers. We have a number of staff who have been with us for over 20 years and Patricia McGibbon, one of our store supervisors, has been with us since we took over the store 25 years ago.

“Our daughter, Sarah, now also has a leading role in the store as store manager. We want to extend a special thanks to Sarah who has done so much for the store, arranging the customer appreciation day for us and already telling us how to run the store!

“We look forward to many many more years serving this wonderful community.”

Paddy Doody, sales and marketing director, Henderson Group, added: “We wish to congratulate Damian, Patricia and the whole team at SPAR Lenadoon on their 25th anniversary and wish them every success for years to come.”