A TRADER is selling her business in Winchester to focus on the job of starting a family.

Melody Ann Buckland, owner of the award-winning Little Sanctuary in Jewry Street, is due to tie the knot this September.

The 29-year-old then hopes to start a family, and in such an event, has decided that she could not run the shop as well.

As a result, she has put her business, which is a spiritual boutique and coffee shop, on the market for £90,000.

She said: "Because it's quite a specialised shop, there are certain kinds of people who would want to buy it.

"We've already had people from Thailand and South Africa interested in the store, along with some people from Manchester who seemed keen to buy it if they could find somewhere to live down here."

She went into business four years ago, running The Speaking Tree and then The Gaia Tree in Kings Walk, Winchester.

She moved to Jewry Street in May 2007, and renamed the shop Little Sanctuary.

Building a loyal customer base, its regulars voted in large numbers during the Keep It Local awards to find Winchester's top independent shop. As a result, Little Sanctuary scooped first place in the contest last August.

She added: "We've got a regular rent for the next four years, a regular income and customer base, and we've won an award, so you can't really say fairer than that if you're looking to buy a business."

If the sale goes ahead, she said she was prepared to keep working for a while to help the new owners find their feet.

Visit www.littlesanctuary.co.uk or call 01962 844636 for more details about the store.

4:59pm Friday 4th July 2008

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