Shop is hub of community

Narinda Singh: “It means all the long hours, all the hard work is appreciated and it means so much”

A FLOURISHING community amenity is how Evening Chronicle reader Matthew Kennedy describes Singh’s Supersave, London Road, Derker.

Mr Kennedy, of The Vicarage, Yates Street, Derker, is so impressed by Narinda Singh that he has nominated her for a Pride in Oldham award in the business category.

In 1991 Narinda and Saj Singh bought the empty, run-down former Co-op building and needed eight skips to remove all the rubbish before they could open the business.

Matthew said: “The shop is known is Singh’s Supersave but I know it as Narinda’s. She is wonderful.

“I stand in the queue for ages and all because Narinda knows every one of her customers and is constantly chattering to them. They are there telling her their life story — she must get tired of this.”

Matthew remembers when the Singhs bought the shop and Narinda spent hours scrubbing the counter, determined to turn around the business.

“It was very run down. All these years later, Narinda is still there and business is totally transformed.”

Matthew describes the shop as clean and modern with queues all the time — which he believes is surprising, considering the decimation of the Derker area.

He said: “Perhaps because Narinda cannot stop getting involved in the lives of her customers, she would make a very good social worker.”

He concluded: “I want to nominate Narinda because Singh’s Supersave is locally known as Narinda’s. She stands there day after day, hour after hour, listening to the woes and joys of customers’ lives while selling them a bottle of bleach, from which she probably makes a 5p profit, if that.

“The Singhs have invested heavily in their shop — they recently had original stonework restored, which tells us all their store was originally a Co-op store back in the 1800s.

“Nothing much else is being restored in this area, making Derker look like a Third World country.”

Narinda said: “I’m gobsmacked. I really don’t know what to say. It means all the long hours, all the hard work is appreciated and it means so much.

“It’s beautiful, it really is, to be recognised. I love it. ”


QUICK! You have only until Friday to nominate someone for the Pride in Oldham Awards. See the information in the top item in this section