Young entreprenuer ready for market days at Rasen and Caistor

Lewis Williams, 25, has been given the go-ahead to set up a weekly stall in Market Rasen and Caistor, with plans to start selling fruit and vegetables later this month.

He is looking forward to bringing new life into Rasen and Caistor - especially as there is currently no fruit and vegetable stall at the Rasen market days.

He said: “Markets are hard now, I want to bring something to the towns.

“I’m really looking forward to it.”

Lewis has also been attending market days in Alford for the last few months, and is looking forward to meeting new people in Market Rasen and Caistor.

In his late teens, Lewis would regulary commute from Boston to London and sell produce at farmers markets.

A passion for the trade continued into his early 20s, and nine months ago Lewis took over the former Heather’s Fruit, Vegetable and Flower shop in the Bull Ring, Horncastle.

He has hopes in the future to expand Lewy’s and even dreams of one day making Lewy’s into a chain of stores.

Lewis also remains committed to restoring the greengrocer status to towns in the area and - perhaps one day - going even further than Lincolnshire.

He wants to encourage more customers to buy from his shop and market stall, rather than buying their fruit and vegetable from leading supermarkets.

He said: “Greengrocers used to be a massive thing, so did butchers and fishmongers. But they are now suffering.

“I know that a lot of people are beginning to grow their own produce in their garden or allotment.”

Lewis explained that over the past few months, while the public have been basking in the sunshine, the same cannot be said for crops.

He said: “With the weather, it has been really hard.

“Winter was good for my business, but summer has been a bit quiet.

“The heatwave has had a long affect on anything local.”

He added that a poor summer often has an impact on the quality of produce come winter.

Lewis supports local, and a lot of his stock is supplied by businesses in the area.

Supplying businesses across Lincolnshire means that Lewis can be confident where the food has come from, and that it will be high quality.

He said: “We don’t grow it (produce) now but in the future we intend to grow our own stock.

“Small local businesses should support each other.”

Lewis encourages any local businesses to get in touch if they would like to sell their produce.

He explained that he is always adapting to demand and what people want.

Lewis said: “Anything that people want, I want to be able to fetch it into the shop and sell it.”

Lewis is also hoping that his young son may one day follow in his footsteps.

He said: “I believe that you have to live life on the edge, take every day as it comes.”