After WH Smith closed down the convenience store at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch in the wake of Covid, an A&E staff nurse stepped to restore the vital service for staff, patients and visitors.

Still working as a nurse, Liam Conroy is now doubling up as a shopkeeper after investing his life savings to reopen the store, create new jobs and re-establish a food and drink lifeline for his colleagues.

Ben Truslove, joint managing director at commercial property agents John Truslove, handled his application to the Worcester Acute Hospitals NHS Trust and has sealed a five-year lease for Liam on the 500 sq ft retail unit at the hospital, on Woodrow Drive.

Liam said: “I have worked in the Alexandra Hospital for the last four years and when WH Smith closed there was a sense of deflation around the hospital.

“The coffee shop was shut, the canteen shut around 2pm and there was no food or drink options after 2pm or weekends. It was demoralising for staff and patients.

“Being a medical professional and local man myself, I knew what was needed and decided to bid, risking my life’s savings on a venture very dear to my heart: bringing back a service for the great people of Redditch.”

After a seven month gap the store re-opened before Christmas as Heroes’ Corner, creating new six jobs for shop workers.

Liam said: “I have to thank the staff for being so kind, friendly and hardworking. The shop would not open without them. I only own it but they are in there seven days a week ensuring it’s run incredibly smoothly with hard work and kindness.”

As well as owning and overseeing the store Liam remains a member of the Alexandra’s A&E nursing team.

“I love and thrive working in the busy organised chaos known as the Emergency Department. I work with the most dedicated and caring individuals; they are such a wonderful team.”

On top of that, the 32-year-old, with 11 years nursing under his belt, is also in the second year of his Masters course as an advanced clinical practitioner and expecting his first child with his partner – they are getting married next January.

The Heroes’ Corner store opens seven days a week, from 7am-8pm Monday-Saturday and 8am-8pm Sunday offering a wide range of sandwiches, chicken wraps,  crisps, chocolates , cakes, pies, Costa coffee, newspapers and puzzle books.

“We offer NHS and West Midlands Ambulance Service staff a 10% discount as a thank-you for all their hard work.

“The feedback has been overwhelming. I often get thanked for bringing a much-needed service back to the Alex. I also get asked by staff at the other Trust hospitals if I can open a store within Worcester and Kidderminster.”

Ben Truslove, at property agents John Truslove, said: “We are delighted to have played a role in helping Liam re-establish a much-needed service for staff, patients and the general public at the Alexandra Hospital.

“It was closed during Covid because of low footfall but is clearly a major asset to the hospital and its re-opening has been widely welcomed.”

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For more information, contact:

John Truslove, Daralbee House, Archer Road, Redditch, B98 8DJ

01527 584242

Editor’s Notes

Redditch-based chartered surveyors and valuers John Truslove was established by John Truslove in 1981 and has become the market leading independent agent for commercial property in North Worcestershire and North Warwickshire as well as the wider West Midlands.

For the year 2021, joint managing director Ben Truslove was ranked second most successful dealmaker in the UK in the 2021 EG Radius On-Demand Rankings. He negotiated 89 sales and lettings during the year in a top ten dominated by partners from all the UK’s leading property agencies. He was the top industrial and commercial property agent in the West Midlands.

The agency, John Truslove, came first in Worcestershire and third in Warwickshire.

It follows on the success from 2020 and 2021 when the firm was named Most Active Agent in Worcestershire for two years in a row in the Radius Data Exchange survey produced in conjunction with EG, the commercial property market magazine.

Joint managing director Ian Parker was also named Worcestershire Dealmaker of the Year AND Warwickshire Dealmaker of the Year for 2020. The survey year, which runs from August to August, saw John Truslove record a 36% increase in deals negotiated over the 12 months.

Issued by Andy Skinner of ASAP PR, mobile 07990 978257.