Staff and customers at Booths in Ilkley welcomed the return of a familiar face this week.
Athol Roberts who opened the Yorkshire branch of the family-run retailer 14 years ago has stepped back into his former role as store manager.
In his decade away, Athol has managed both the Settle and Ripon stores during their openings.
And during the past 10 months, Athol has been based at Booths head office in Longridge, near Preston.
Now he is delighted to be returning to the shop floor.
He says: “It’s lovely. I really enjoy the interaction with people. It’s amazing that there are customers who remember me from 10 years ago and it’s great to see so many familiar faces still working at the store.”
Athol has worked for Booths for a total of 34 years with 30 of those spent as a store manager.
He brings with him a wealth of experience and is passionate about the Booths brand with its emphasis on top quality produce and warm, friendly service.
He says: “Booths is committed to supporting local producers and we have some fantastic Yorkshire products in store all year round. I especially love Yorkshire rhubarb which is used by top chefs across the UK and our world-famous Yorkshire cheeses such as Wensleydale.”
Booths is dedicated to building close relationships with local suppliers and because it doesn't buy in huge volumes it is able to source produce from smaller scale growers.
This includes Yorkshire asparagus from Morrell Farms near Knaresborough, smoked salmon from Bleiker’s Smokehouse in the Yorkshire Dales and more than 30 Yorkshire beers.