Community / Excitement growing at Cope as long-awaited extension nears conclusion
“I THINK they were talking about it years before I even started”.
Cope is on the cusp of its biggest ever expansion, with a £1 million project set to double the space that its increasingly popular Home Co. section has to showcase its resold wares.
It has been a long time coming, in the words of company chief executive Steven Coutts, with the current warehouse at Gremista, Lerwick effectively holding them back.
Coutts has been at the helm since January 2022, and says that since he started the aspiration has been to expand the business.
“We’ve literally outgrown the building here,” he tells Shetland News as he gives a tour of the extension work.
“I think the amount that has been coming through here has been growing year on year.”
There have been other drawbacks at the current building, which over time have niggled.
Cope staff have had to process large donations – such as couches and tables – outside in the Gremista yard, under rain, hail or snow, before moving them into increasingly full shipping containers.
And the tearoom is so small that staff have had to split into three break-time shifts, to ensure everyone gets a seat at the table.
Thankfully that is all about to change. Cope’s extension will allow staff to accept and inspect donations under one roof, before transferring it to a new, bigger retail space.
There is also a much bigger, custom-built tearoom awaiting them – which will allow more folk to put their feet up at the same time.
Shetland News’ visit on Tuesday came as Cope prepares to temporarily move out of Gremista to allow the final construction works to be completed.
The Home Co. business will decant to the vacant Mackenzie’s Farm Shop in Cunningsburgh next week, with Coutts saying they would be there for the “remainder of this year” at least.
The Cope extension has been a long time coming, mooted long before Coutts stepped into the top job.
As well as delivering a bigger tearoom and an indoor donation processing space to improve staff welfare, there are also dedicated offices for Shetland Home Co. staff.
There is also the much bigger retail space – 50 per cent bigger, in fact – which will allow Cope to better display larger items such as couches, wardrobes and TVs.
A 21kw solar panel is set to be installed on the roof of the extension to help with the social enterprise’s net zero ambitions and to reduce energy bills.
While it has been a long-term ambition for Cope to expand, the social enterprise had found it difficult to raise the cash for such a huge project.
“Funding was the challenge,” Coutts admits.
“Essentially it is a £1 million project. We were very fortunate we were able to get funding from the Scottish Government, Shetland Islands Council and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.
“We contributed as well to it.”
The extension is “coming together nicely” when Shetland News visits, with work to ensure it is ready to move into continuing apace.
Coutts does not want to put a date on when they might be back in a bigger Gremista building, but estimates it will be at the start of 2026.
Firstly, though, they have to pack everything and make the short journey to Cunningsburgh – with Cope closing its Lerwick doors on Thursday 23 October.
They then hope to reopen to the public on Tuesday 28 October, after a long weekend of getting Mackenzie’s ready.
“It’s going to be quite challenging,” Coutts says.
“It was always part of the programme that we would need to vacate at some point.
“We were really fortunate from speaking to Campbell at CW Johnson Plant [who now own Mackenzie’s] that Cunningsburgh became available.
“That’s really great for what we need in the short term. The building is largely ready, it’s been used as a shop, it’s a great space and there’s good parking outside.”
Cope is backed by a “massive amount of community support”, Coutts says, who are desperate to back it and to see it succeed.
He hopes they will continue to buy and donate in their droves to ensure the expansion is a success.
“We wouldn’t be anywhere without the community,” he says.
“We really hope our temporary community in Cunningsburgh will continue to support us, and that it will continue once we’re in our bigger premises.”
With the expansion being “spoken about for so long”, the Cope chief says there is a palpable sense of excitement.
“People are getting excited about it now,” he says, “it’s great to see it at this stage.
“I think everybody is very much excited to get more room, and to get a much bigger working environment.”
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