132 · The bakery that stopped opening on Mondays
With Rhian Talbot, who bakes in Stockport. Why closing one trading day put £900 a month back into the business.
Weekly podcast · Since 2023
An hour with the person behind the counter
A baker in Stockport, a cobbler in Sheffield, a one-woman accountancy practice in Cardiff. What it costs, what it pays and what they'd do differently. Out every Monday at 5am.
- 26,000 downloads an episode
- 132 episodes, none scripted
- Listeners in 41 countries
Wherever you get your podcasts, and in full on YouTube.
Episodes
The five most recent. Everything before that is in your podcast app.
131 · Twenty-six years mending shoes
With Alan Bowker, cobbler in Sheffield. What a repair costs to do properly, and why he keeps saying no to a franchise.
130 · Going it alone with two kids and no savings
With Priya Raman, who left an accountancy firm in Cardiff to start her own. The first two years, month by month.
129 · The village shop the village bought
With the committee behind a community-owned shop in Cumbria. Shares, volunteers and a till that still has to balance.
128 · What a market stall actually makes
With Femi Adeyemi, who sells plants in Manchester. Pitch fees, weather and the maths of a rainy Saturday.
New episode every Monday at 5am. Full transcript of each one goes up the same morning.
Who makes it
Two producers, a spare room in Ancoats and one rule: we always ask the numbers
We're Owen Blackhurst and Priya Sandhu. We spent nine years making radio for other people, and in 2023 we started making this instead: a microphone on the counter and an hour with whoever is running the place.
Shopfront is paid for by 1,900 listeners at £3 a month and two sponsors a season. That's why there isn't an advert every ten minutes.
- 1,900 listeners keep it going
- Recorded in one take, in their shop
- Every episode transcribed in full
132conversations, none shorter than 45 minutes
The studio
A spare room in Ancoats, two microphones and a table that seats three.
Sponsor Shopfront
Two sponsors a season, read by us and never dropped into the middle of a conversation. Last season's figures.
| Podcast | 26K | downloads per episode | First 30 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| YouTube | 34K | subscribers | Full video of every episode |
| Newsletter | 9.8K | email subscribers | 54% open rate |
| 18K | followers | Clips from every conversation |
Audience
Aged 30-5464 %
Finish the whole episode74 %
United Kingdom79 %
Run or want to run a business58 %
Brands
An independent bookshop groupA business bank for the self-employedAn accounting software company
Formats & rates
Opening read
£750 / episode
Sixty seconds at the top, written with you and read by us in our own words.
- Script agreed with you
- Link in the show notes
- Mention in that week's newsletter
Full season
£7,800
Twelve episodes with an opening and closing read, exclusive in your category.
- Category exclusivity
- One special episode with your team
- Download report at the end of the season
Get in touch
To suggest a guest, sponsor a season or bring a live recording to your town.
- hello@shopfrontpodcast.example
- Unit 6, Blossom Street, Ancoats · Manchester M4 6AJ, United Kingdom