Award-winning Ryedale deli Hunters of Helmsley up for sale

The multiple award-winning Hunters of Helmsley has been based in the picturesque market town of Helmsley for more than 25 years - and current owners Chris and Christine Garnett have been at the helm since 2008.

Enjoying a prime spot on Helmsley’s Market Place in a stunning Grade II listed stone building, the deli attracts customers from far and wide.

The ground floor of Hunters offers fresh meats, cheeses, salads and sandwiches, along with a wide-ranging alcohol selection, while the first floor is home to premium ambient groceries and gifts, including chocolates, preserves, pickles, oils, meal ingredients, tea and coffee.

It employs seven full-time staff and two part-timers.

Christine Garnett said: “It was always going to be a tough decision to let Hunters go, as we have worked so hard to create the shop we always wanted.

“But Chris is 62, I’m approaching 60 and we recently became grandparents, so we decided it was probably time to hang up our aprons.

“There’s still lots of opportunities to grow the business, we have plenty of ideas, but it isn’t the right time in our lives for us do be doing that – for someone a bit younger, it will be an exciting prospect!

“Hunters is so well known throughout the region, and we really focus on supporting local suppliers – there’s so much wonderful food and drink on our doorstep.

“There’s also a very supportive business community in the town, spear-headed by the Helmsley in Business group, which we helped set up seven years ago.

“It’s been a wonderful 11 years at the helm, and we’ll be sad to see it go, but Hunters is an icon in its own right – long may that continue!”

Hunters was named independent food retailer of the year in the 2015 Yorkshire Life Food & Drink Awards, and in the same year won the national Best Small Shops competition run by the All-Party Parliamentary Small Shops Group.

Last year it was a regional finalist in the Guild of Fine Food’s Shop of the Year competition.

Hunters has been put on the market for £550,000 and is being sold through Leeds-based business agent Ernest Wilson.