It was a pleasure to interview Alick and Debbie as they celebrate their 10th anniversary. The Grapevine was with them from the start and has often advertised their services and seen their business model change and grow over the last 10 years. 10 years is a fantastic achievement, even more so as foreigners in a country only just coming out of recession. For those of you that weren’t here 10 years again let’s start at the beginning, how did Debbie and Alick come to build a business in Competa 10 years ago? Alick started his working life in the Metropolitan Police Service but found this profession wasn’t for him and moved into financial services while Debbie enjoyed rising through the ranks of a pharmaceutical company. Both were successful, busy people enjoying their working lives and accepting the stresses that went with it. However, Debbie was hit with redundancy and this marked a re-evaluation as to what was important to them. Did they really want to continue with their fast paced lives or should they use this moment to make some changes? Changes were what they decided and they weren’t small! They embarked on a 10 day viewing trip in July 2004 to Malaga. They finally found Competa on their last day, sat in the Plaza Almijara and said this is it, this is where we want to be. They put an offer in on a house, it was accepted, and completion occurred in the September and then the following May they were in Competa to start their new lives! Next was a business, they needed to do something and the idea came very quickly. It wasn’t easy to get greeting cards, or international newspapers so that’s where their idea developed from and with a help from a friend their name too. For the first few years the shop was extremely successful, then recession hit, many expats returned to England and the exchange rate hit those that were retired in the village. Not only were there fewer foreigners in the village they had less money to spend. This was the first time they looked further than their original business model. They were now a well known and trusted couple in the community and this helped them develop and build Todo Casa. This side of the business offers property management services such as changeover cleans, pool maintenance, security checks and hire of equipment such as cots, baby seats and even wheelchairs! Todo Casa took off immediately and soon Todo Papel became the shop front for their Todo Casa business. Not long after creating Todo Casa an opportunity arose to provide post boxes. The Competa Correos were starting to charge per individual for receiving post into one post box. This change in costs was not well received in the community especially in times of recession so Debbie and Alick started to offer this service too but at a much lower cost. Now they have over 200 post boxes and they provide an excellent postal delivery and receipt service from within the shop, even for customers who may not have a PO box. Debbie and Alick are very happy that the new services they are offering have been successful in the face of a challenging environment and they haven’t stopped adapting. This year they have made investment into more tourist items such as souvenirs, t-shirts, caps, tea towels, aprons and mugs. Competa itself has focused on tourism in recent years and so Debbie and Alick are keen to build a successful business within a flourishing Competa and to evolve with the changing customer needs. They especially wish to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to all their customers, past and present for their support over the last 10 years. Without this invaluable support they would not be here. Every customer has contributed in making the last 10 years an enjoyable and sociable business to work in. They would like to invite you to join them on the 19th of September at the shop from 11am for some nibbles, a glass of fizz and a prize quiz to celebrate their 10th anniversary as a special thank you for all your support over the last 10 years. Here’s to another 10 years!
