WELLINGTON newsagent EJ Teare is gearing up for another busy Christmas of postal deliveries.

Mum and daughter Lorraine and Trish Lettley, who run the town centre shop, introduced the unique Welly Post service for customers in 2013.

And this Christmas they – or more precisely Lorraine’s husband, Richard, 69 – will deliver about 10,000 cards and letters, some 4,000 up on last year. Welly Post’s attraction is the price – 30p, which remains the same as 2013.

Trish believes this is a great way to appeal to the local community and her customers, of whom she estimates 40 per cent are over 50 years old.

Since starting its delivery service, the shop has increased its greeting card sales which go ‘hand in hand’ with the Welly Post.

Alongside Welly Post, Trish and Lorraine pride themselves on providing excellent customer service and having a good team to back them up. “Our staff have been with us for years,” said Trish. “They are all local people with retail experience who are well known within the town.

“Our main focus with our staff is interaction with customers. We pride ourselves on our customer service and friendliness.”

Trish added: “My mum had worked at the shop for nearly 30 years when the owners put it on the market.

“I’ve got a business degree, so I turned around and said: ‘Why don’t we buy it?’ Nine years later, here we are.”

In addition to the many aspects of their business, EJ Teare sells nearly 600 copies of the WWN every week.