WHEN shops re-opened after lockdown last year, Skipton interiors business The Home Company was selling more sofas than ever before.

“Having spent so much time at home, a lot of people spent the time doing up their houses, so we benefited from quite a lot of pent-up demand from those looking to either completely re-vamp a room or just freshen up with new accessories,” says store manager Michelle Swinscoe.

The Home Company has been trading for more than 40 years. “It was originally owned by Robert Hadaway, who started the business in 1981 when it was known as Pottery & Pine,” says Michelle. “The shop began in a two-story building attached to High Corn Mill and, as the business grew, it moved into the main part of the historic former corn mill where it now occupies 3,000 sq ft of showrooms.

“When Robert retired in 2014 the business was taken over by property entrepreneur and owner of High Corn Mill, Andrew Mear. I’ve worked here for 23 years alongside former manager Linda Lee, who’s still active on a part-time basis.

* Where did its name come from? “The shop was re-named The Home Company in 2007 to more accurately reflect the broader range of lifestyle furniture and furnishings it had grown to offer.”

* Did you make changes during lockdown? “We had to close but took advantage of the time to refurbish our upstairs showroom and launch a new-look website. It was great to get back to some sort of normality and our lovely customers genuinely seemed to be relieved that we were open again - and called in to tell us so! We’ve also seen lots of new faces and couples starting out. We became incredibly busy after re-opening last year, enjoying one of our best ever trading periods in the summer.”

* Is the business part of the community? “Very much so. We’ve been here more than 40 years and a lot of our customers have been loyal regulars, coming back time and again. Linda and I have worked in the business for many years and we sometimes have the children of original customers coming in. Andrew Mear was chairman of Skipton BID for several years, so he’s long had wider interests of the town at heart.”

* What do you enjoy about your job?”I’ve seen the business grow and flourish to become what it is today. I love to interact with customers, offering the benefit of knowledge I’ve gained over the years in terms of what we’re about and products we sell. I have an enthusiastic, dedicated team who give me lots of support. Working at The Home Company has always been more than a job for me - it really is my home from home.”

* The Home Company, High Corn Mill, Skipton. Tel. (01756) 794999. Email: info@thehomeco.net. Visit thehomecompany.co.uk Facebook: @TheHomeCompanyfurniture; Instagram: @the_home_co; Twitter: @SkiptonHomeCo