Stamford: Apprentice star's yellow baby shop paint criticised

Marianne Rawlins is facing criticism over the colour of her shop frontage in a historic Lincolnshire town

A former candidate from BBC show The Apprentice is facing criticism after painting the frontage of her shop in a Lincolnshire town yellow.

Marianne Rawlins recently opened her baby and toddler clothes store Stork in Stamford's historic conservation area.

After painting the front of the Tudor building with colours from a heritage range, she said she was told it was not appropriate.

She is now applying for retrospective planning permission.

The Tudor building on St Mary's Street had been empty for more than two years when Ms Rawlins took it on, so she decided to give it a makeover before opening.

Marianne Rawlins said she believed there was "overwhelming support" for the changes

Ms Rawlins, who appeared on The Apprentice in 2019, said it "turns out" her choice of colours from paint manufacturer Dulux's heritage range was "not an appropriate way to go".

She said it all started with an anonymous complaint, and then the town council and civic society also objected.

"I'm a little confused by it - it's not yellow, it's gold, but fine that's neither here or there," she told BBC Radio Lincolnshire.

"But I've seen quite a few shops in town that have yellow or gold and black and just thought that was very much in keeping."

'Negative impact'

She said the building was "potentially" the oldest building in what was "arguably one of the best preserved towns in the country".

"We were so careful, we really went to great lengths that we stayed within what we thought the bounds of appropriate was for a listed building like this," she added.

Stamford has more than 600 listed buildings, ranging from remnants of medieval monasteries to 18th Century town houses. In 1967, it became England's first conservation area.

Ms Rawlins, who moved from the US to the UK in 2017, and sees conflict management as one of her strongest skills, according to her Apprentice profile, is now having to apply for retrospective planning permission.

Both Stamford Town Council and Stamford Civic Society have objected.

In a statement, the town council said the yellow paint "wasn't an appropriate colour" in the conservation area, but said the internal renovations had "improved the fabric of the building immensely".

The civic society said "the so-called heritage colour" had "a negative impact" on the building, and should be reconsidered.

Ms Rawlins said she believed there was "overwhelming support" for the changes she had made.

"I really hope there can be some leniency here," she added.