AS we prepare to launch the 2011 Fenland Enterprise Business Awards this month, it is worrying that news of another shop closing for economic reasons hits the headlines.

As exclusively revealed on our website on Tuesday, Anglia Regional Co-operative Society announced that the Westgate department store in March will close this summer.

The reason for the closure? Because, according to chief executive John Chillcott, “the society has unfortunately come to the conclusion that the Westgate department store in March is no longer economically viable to operate in the long term”.

Shopkeepers in March have already been living in fear for the last month because of a dramatic increase in burglaries across the town (as we reported last week). In one incident Jerry Baldwin, manager of West End DIY, was robbed as he went to bank the day’s takings.

This week’s news has done nothing to help their morale and we cannot sit back and just accept the society’s verdict.

So let’s prove the society wrong. Let’s prove that March, and indeed Fenland, is economically viable. Let’s look out for the shopkeepers who dedicate hours upon hours to us and let’s help those people expand their enterprise and make them feel proud to be in business.

Their commitment to opening every morning comes down to one thing – the reward for their efforts. We know the effort’s there – so reward them with our custom and reward them by telling us of their efforts and nominating them for FEBA.

And if you question why we should reward their efforts, think of the situation this way – you’ll miss Fenland’s small independent shops when the shopkeepers give up their efforts.