Co-Here has emerged from so many pathways that I sometimes have to talk my way back through it all. We purchased this building in 2018 as a new home for our original ethical homeware company - Second Nature Online. At the time, we were looking for large storage and distribution premises since our business imported container loads of products and mainly operated online. We needed something large, in great condition and with high ceilings for shelving. However the perfect building proved difficult to find. Like many locals, we felt sad to see so many empty buildings in Dumfries so our mission was to keep our business and staff located centrally rather than in an out of town industrial unit.
And then the former Baptist Church in Newall Terrace, Dumfries, appeared on the market. It certainly made us think outside the box! It was large….. it was in great condition….. it had high ceilings for shelving …… and it was right in the centre of Dumfries. In a moment of utter madness professional decisiveness, we decided that buying a 4500 square foot, 150 year old sandstone church was a GREAT IDEA for your average couple!!
Was it a great idea? Well I would say Yes and No, and that the long term answer to that question is still evolving. It was a GREAT IDEA to begin with …. folks popping in and out - a great space for the day to day running and some wonderful pop up days - but then COVID hit. By the end of that year, a backlog of trapped container shipments overwhelmed us and forced a move out of the church shortly afterwards. We moved into an industrial premises which was kinda what we wanted to avoid in the first place but we figured business was booming enough to do both. Then Brexit hit hard and caused the loss of our largest market - the EU. We were left with a hefty load of stock that had nowhere to go and certainly too much for us to move back into the church. Our great idea did not feel so great any more.
We hatched a change of direction for the building and submitted proposals for a new co-working space in 2021. It was a GREAT IDEA again and the proposal was written in so much detail that I even had the price of a fried egg roll included in the business plan. It was met with approval in all the right places but for many reasons, I did not take those plans any further at the time. Second Nature Online was struggling to survive in the new post Brexit world. Keeping it afloat - and everyone in a job - was an all consuming task. I also turned into a shrieking menopausal maniac which didn’t help with strategic planning……! I was pretty sure that the co-working plans would never see the light of day. By the end of 2021, the church was empty - but with its normal monthly bills to pay - hence squarely back in the ‘not such a great idea’ category.
I hated the way the building felt during the next couple of years. Whenever I dropped in It felt sad - like it was missing human company and why wouldn’t it? It had been a church for 150 years and had hosted congregations, celebrations, events and groups. I hoped that things would get better so we could come back but for the time being the driveway became a handy place to park and the bathroom a handy place to nip into if required. Oh yes - and it was (and still is) a tremendous place to stand and watch the Guid Nychburris parade as it leaves from the main council car park.
In 2023, we decided to get married and I had the GREAT IDEA of having the wedding in the church! (It would have been rude not to don’t you think). I moved from Menopausal Maniac to Bridezilla except I was less concerned about how I looked - and more concerned about whether the building would cope with 120 people swarming through the doors again. I needn’t have worried - it was a truly magnificent day and perhaps a bit of a rebirth for me as well as the building!
Still writing this ……..
