Two South Holland businesses with almost 130 years of history in the area are on the market for a total price of around £4m.
Pledgers has been a fixture in Long Sutton for more than 70 years, and has been run by the same family since 1967; while Harold Payne has been running the Anglia Motel for more than 50 years and is well-known for his charity work.
Both properties are listed for sale with the 14-acre motel site in Fleet Hargate, priced at £3.7m including the 500-seat cafe, 20-room motel, lake and campsite which is on the A17.
Pledgers, in Long Sutton Market Place, is on the market for £225,000 freehold but the current owners want to reassure customers that they are not going anywhere in the immediate future, and are certainly not closing the shop.
“It was our parents’ business and we have been doing it ever since – it’s a real worry as we can’t keep going on forever,” said Gill Wysoczanski.
“The shop is so busy and we have customers who have never bought their white goods anywhere else. We are such a part of the community and we don’t want anyone to think we are closing soon.
“It would be lovely if someone local would take it on. We love it, but I am 70 now and my brother Graham is 66 and we have to think about the future; it is a real worry to be honest” she added. Their elder brother David has taken a step back from the business.
But the company, retailing electronics and toys is busier than ever, and the family is determined to ensure it has a future in Long Sutton, and while it’s on the market, there is no rush to sell.
“We love what we do, we have just carried on from our parents. It can be very difficult, people know the business has been advertised but we aren’t going anywhere now, we just need to look to the future,” said Gill.
The Anglia Motel has been at the heart of more than 30 years of fundraising by Harold to support veterans of the armed forces.
He raised funds to pay for veterans of D Day to return to the Normandy beaches each year in memory of those who didn’t return home. For 30 years he held fundraising events to ensure the veterans didn’t have to finance themselves.
This year, the 80th anniversary, there were no veterans left to return with him and Harold, now 84 himself, said it was the last trip he would make.
He took a restored World War II amphibious craft, a DUKW, over.
He also spread 8,000 roses to remember the 14,500 Lincolnshire men who died as a result of the operation.
The motel site is described as: “owned and developed by our clients for over 60 years, this vast mixed use site comprises many elements in one ownership which still provides scope for further development.”
“Planning consent has been granted in 2023 for a new two-storey motel block, extended HGV parking and fuel station to add further to the substantial, multi-faceted assets and facilities,” says the online agent site.
For £3.7m the lot includes the 20 en-suite motel rooms, 17 self-contained dwellings, a 9,600 sq ft storage unit, HGV truck stop parking for more than 40 vehicles and consent to extend. There’s also a stocked lake and mobile home park site.
