CIVIC dignitaries were among those invited to champagne and canap�s launch of Wisbech’s latest shop but in a most unusual setting.

Hope Social Enterprises- part of the Ferry Project and the Luminus Group which runs Octavia View in the building which houses the new shop- gave guests a preview of the home furnishings store which opens to the public on October 30.

Earlier this year Luminus opened the rest of the building – formerly the Queens Hotel- which provides a hostel for and training opportunities for homeless youngsters.

Hope Social Enterprises, based in March, is a non profit making organisation and will staff and run the new shop using a mix of up to 30 volunteer and other workers.

Around half of the goods being sold in the new shop are sourced through buying up of bankrupt stock and through companies sympathetic to their aims whilst the rest is often re conditioned or cleaned up goods donated to Hope.

Chan Abraham, Chairman of Ferry Project said Octavia View represented a significant achievement for Luminus and Ferry Project as this development is providing a community centre that is vital for the local community and economy.

Octavia View provides accommodation for up to 24 homeless people in Fenland, and 16 have already moved in. All residents will receive training in work related and life skills on site and this will allow them to move into more permanent accommodation after an average six months stay.

Their new shop, Octavias, and housed near the front of the building, will open from 9am-5pm, six days a week.

Keith Smith, director of the Ferry project, believes Octavias will provide “a glamorous and sophisticated way to shop”.