Shop that dressed Olly Murs to close after 50 years

Angela Price says she is looking forward to retirement

A sports and school uniform shop whose patrons include people who later found fame is shutting down after 50 years.

Pope and Smith of Moulsham Street, Chelmsford, previously provided pop singer Olly Murs with his school attire and cricket equipment to Essex and England legend Graham Gooch.

But co-owner, Angela Price, 67, says it is now time to retire after finding high street trade "very tough" during the past few years.

"It will be a very emotional day. I wanted to carry on, but the stress is too much and I need to enjoy my life."

'Losing school uniforms has cost us £40k'

Pope and Smith had other branches across Essex, including in Billericay and Rayleigh, but Moulsham Street has ended up being the last one standing.

As well as sportswear and equipment, it was a supplier of school uniforms for children attending the likes of Sandon, Great Baddow and Chelmer Valley.

But changes to the rules around school uniforms, designed to make them cheaper for parents, has led to a big drop off in business.

Mrs Price says the shop lost out on about £40,000 in revenue last year.

"We've always done cricket, tennis, hockey, a little bit of football and rugby. We used to do school uniforms but unfortunately with the new government legislation that came out, the schools had the option to choose another supplier."

Singer Olly Murs was a schoolboy customer at Pope and Smith

Despite the uniform setback, the shop has some famous customers to remember.

Mrs Price added: "Olly Murs popped in and had his photo taken in the shop. He said he used to get his school uniform from here, which was quite nice.

"Graham Gooch was another so we've had a few in here."

'Online kills us'

As well as losing the school uniform element of the business, Mrs Price said the picture for retail on a traditional high street was difficult.

She said: "Online kills us. We have people come in and look at things and then you can see them in the shop seeing how much they can get it for online.

"It cripples the high street and we can't match online prices. They are probably 20 per cent cheaper and we have to put a certain price on things otherwise we can't make a living or pay our bills."

Pope and Smith is set to close on Saturday June 1.