The hardware and key cutting store, which has been in the town since 1966, has had its frontage and parts of the building restored with funding that will ultimately come from levelling up and council contributions.
Owner Roy Plumb was given the green light to get quotes in for the work and redecoration and the job eventually went to Lee Armes and his team from LA Decor along with support from Tommy Dolan of Trent Roofing (Newark), Harry Fanshawe of Templewood. Construction Ltd (Nottingham) and Eli Thompson of Alvaston Scaffolding.
And from the outset, the remit was always to keep the store’s authentic look from when it first opened nearly 60 years ago.
Roy said: “The shop is within a conservation area and so we needed to maintain that sense of history with the shop and the town.”
Lee continued: "The only thing we really had to change was the sash windows, we tried to keep them but it would have needed too much work so we agreed with Roy to fit some new ones instead while still retaining the character of the building.
"There’s also been some work on the roof and the guttering too to ensure no water was getting in.
"But we’ve kept all the original work on the ground floor of the building, we’ve just redone the lead work to ensure no water is going to enter there and cause damage.
"And to be honest, with the work we’ve now done, I’d surprised if it wasn’t another 15 or 20 years now before the work needs to be done again.
"It’s always the same with buildings, especially old buildings like this, sometimes it’s left a little too long before work like this is carried out.
"But if maintenance is kept up ever 15 years or so, it should be easy to keep the building looking like it does now.
“It’s a shame when you look along some streets, that character has been lost with some buildings but here where this shop is, there are some lovely old buildings that retain that character and look that Kimberley is all about.
"Of course there were challenges, every old building always presents a challenge of sorts but when you stand across the street and look at it when the work is done, it’s very satisfying to see a job well done and I’m very confident in my mind that that’s a lasting finish now and as long as it’s maintained every decade or so, it will always look like that.
"There’s always that sense of a tight-knit community about Kimberley and a lot of the shops and buildings have retained their old character and that’s seen the town maintain its heritage as a result.”