The Shop on The Hill. Photo: Shade Lapite

Across the road from Brockley station, around the corner from the main Brockley Cross thoroughfare and nestled between a cafe and a restaurant sits The Shop On The Hill.

Former journalist Nicola Davidson opened the wholefoods and mini pharmacy two years ago. Having lived in Brockley for 14 years Davidson had long harboured dreams of owning a business in the area: “I think Brockley’s a great area for this kind of business. It’s a very green, fairly mixed – a lot of students, mums, old people, a good cultural mix. I just saw a gap in the market.”

The shop, ironically located at the bottom of a hill, focuses on organic and fairly traded items and scrupulously avoids any animal products. “I try to be as ethical as possible,” Davidson says: “I offer eco-friendly cleaning products that you can refill, food refills whereby I buy items like rice, nuts, seeds etc in bulk and the customer can come in with a bag and get a bit of a discount. I also carry things like vitamins, fairly traded teas, grain, organic and local seasonal produce and all my beauty products are lauryl sulphate and paraffin free.”

The Shop weathered the recent recession confidently but Davidson admits the downturn forced her to put expansion plans on hold for a while: “I just think it’s best to consolidate what you already have before making any plans to go bigger and double your overheads, but in the future I’d like to have a café, a clothes recycling unit and treatment rooms attached to my business.”

If you’re a student flash your student card and get a 10% discount when you spend over £20.

The Shop On The Hill is open Mon – Fri 10am – 8pm, Sat – Sun 9am – 6pm
No. 7 Harefield Road, Brockley