Julie Cornford will be leaving the streets of Sevenoaks behind and heading to Dorset to surf and paddleboard

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It will mark the end of 50 years' trading in Sevenoaks when The Hardware Centre closes. No date has been set for shutting, but a 10 per cent closing down sale is seeing customers "flock" through the doors, said Julie Cornford, who owns the shop with brother Stephen Martin.

They took over The Hardware Centre in London Road 20 years ago from their parents, Clive and Margaret Martin, who opened it in the 1970s, after having a DIY and ironmongers' shop in Bromley for 10 years. Julie told KentLive what she would miss most was her customers and her staff, saying some had worked there for more than 25 years.

But when Julie does leave the shop, and there are conversations happening with potential buyers, she has exciting plans for the next stage of her life. There will be no pottering at home in Tonbridge in retirement as Julie and husband Paul are moving to Dorset, where she plans to surf and paddleboard.

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Talking about the end of an era in Sevenoaks with the shop which has served the community for half a century, she said: "We are retiring. We are in our 60s. My parents have done their retiring, so it is our turn now. I'm looking forward to retiring but obviously we feel sad. We have our regular customers who have been loyal over the years, through the pandemic."

They sell everything from fire grates and gardening products, to nuts and bolts, baking and cookware, to DIY and plasticware. Julie and brother Stephen, who lives in Weald, kept the shop open "right the way through" the pandemic, as allowed because of the nature of their business.

They sold not just useful things for people in lockdown - baking, DIY and gardening items were popular as people busied themselves at home - but also provided that welcome human contact, even though it was behind screens and masks.

"It was just us and Waitrose. It was quite difficult times because everyone was all masked up and we had screens and rubber gloves. We had to put arrows on the floor. We had an 'in' door and an 'out' door. It was all going on.

"We were selling masks and hand cleaner. I think it was good for the community and locally. We have very good staff, a lot have been with us for over 25 years now. They have all been very patient and everything has been very difficult for them. We employ seven and I expect we will keep in touch with them," she said.

Sevenoaks has not stayed the same during the many years Julie has been at the shop. She said: "We have seen huge changes. It is very much hairdressers and nail bars now. Of course, everyone has gone online as well. We have gone online. We have an ebay shop but people in Sevenoaks do like to shop on the high street. We'll continue online but we don't know how long at the moment."

As for the business continuing, she said: "We have people interested it is just a case of how long they will take. We will continue with our sale of 10 per cent and people seem excited about that. They have been flocking in. Suddenly they are coming in their droves."

Talking about her retirement, Julie who has three grown-up children and grandchildren, said: "I plan to do lots of surfing. I have got myself a bodyboard and I want to do paddle boarding. We are planning to move to Dorset. We holiday there a lot.

"We're off to the seaside. I do like beaches. I am very keen on being by the sea. I expect the family will all be visiting!"

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