Norfolk village store acquired by experienced operator through Christie & Co

Situated in the affluent village of Watton, on the outskirts of Thetford, Watton Edwards store is located on the village high street and benefits from a high footfall year round. The store is heavily relied on for its services within the local community.

The store has been owned and operated by Deven and Chandi Changela for nearly ten years, who recently sold the business to focus more on family, and other business opportunities.

They comment, “As a small business that had been operational for a decade last year, we made the decision to sell our newsagents. We chose Christie & Co as our partners to facilitate the sale of our business and Lewis Last, who visited the business from the moment we engaged in the thorough discussion, was confident that we would be in safe hands to successfully sell our business. After an arduous nine months we finally achieved our sale.

 “We extend a warm welcome to Mr. Ketul Desai to Watton, Norfolk, as the new owner of the business. We genuinely hope that the local community and staff will extend their support and assistance to him too, enabling him to successfully take the business forward.

The store has been purchased by Ketul Desai, an experienced local operator who owns other stores in the region. He comments, “Thank you to Lewis and the Christie & Co team. No deal is not without its bumps in the road, but Lewis was always on hand to assist.

 “I am pleased to acquire this business, and I look forward to building on the great work Deven and Chandi have done and the excellent relationship they had with local customers and the wider community.”

Lewis Last, Associate Director at Christie & Co, comments, “I am very pleased to see this sale over the line for Deven and Chandi. It was clear from our first meeting they were very proud of the business they had built after moving out to Watton over a decade ago, and rightly so. The business has become vital to the local community with its Post Office service and its newspaper delivery service is also heavily relied upon by the local residents.

 “Whilst this deal had its unexpected challenges, Deven, Chandi and Ketul always maintained a very honest and trust-based relationship, which eventually saw the deal over the line. Well done to all and I look forward to catching up with Ketul and his team in due course.”

For further information on this press release, contact:      

Niamh Toman, Corporate Communications Executive 
P: 07768 646 984 or E: Niamh.toman@christie.com  

Contact the agents:

Lewis Last, Associate Director– Retail
P: +44 7526 175 851 or E: lewis.last@christie.com

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