The Old School Village Store and Tea Room in Rufforth has been nominated for both the Family Business of the Year and the Small Business of the Year categories in the Press Business awards 2017.

WHEN the village of Rufforth had no shop the disused Victorian school house was transformed in 2011 into a much-needed community asset.

Villagers had been without a shop for two years when Frank Di Lorenzo opened The Old School Village Store and Tea Room.

The Victorian style and school theme have been kept throughout the store with blackboards, chalk, bells and school bags.

Mr Di Lorenzo said: "As a company we have tailored the store to meet the needs of local communities and businesses, forging links and strong relationships in doing so.

"We prepare and serve fresh daily baked and homemade products, have a general convenience shopping facility for local residents and passers-by and also have a Victorian sweet shop in the heart of the store.

"You can learn about the village’s history whilst indulging in a light snack or trying one of the Afternoon Tea specials," he said. And his daughter is the chef and also serves hot meals, keeping with the Italian tradition of a family run business.

"We market our business via the website, leaflets and local paper and have grown our business over the last six years, with a strong influence by our local community" Mr Di Lorenzo added.

"School children, young mothers and Sunday church attendees use the amenity and meet regularly for coffee, lunches and special-occasions making The Old School a focal point for the village.

"One strength in particular has come from the cycling clubs, notably hosting this year and last year’s Yorkshire Mafia/Everyone Everywhere Events pit shop, where we helped refuel up to 480 cyclists."

"We have recently gained a great reputation with our outdoor catering services, supplying hot and cold buffets for funerals, birthdays and special occasion parties, which led to us gaining a contract with City of York Council's Yorwaste to provide a buffet for their training and development department.

"We are also pleased to have future bookings for The Yorkshire Mafia Cycling Event in June for 700 people.In addition we have acquired a catering facilities contract for Valle Engineering.

When he opened the shop and tea room in 2011 he told The Press: “I saw an opportunity here with three villages and no amenities.

“I’ve lived here for 25 years and wanted to provide a focal point for the community; somewhere people can call in for the paper and have a chat over coffee.”

The Old School Village Store and Tea Room has certainly fulfilled his ambition to become a focal point for an extended local community and residents of nearby villages. It also doubles up as a mobile police station that operates from within the premises, as well as offering a venue for the MP to host his surgery.