A convenience store in Fallowfield is celebrating more than 30 years of serving its community, and now one of its team members will be the face of a major new billboard campaign across Manchester.
The Paper Shop, on Platt Lane, has been serving customers since 1992, offering loaves of bread, drinks, snacks and other daily staples. Started by Madhavji Bhudia, it is now run by his sons Dinesh and Mahesh. Madhavji came to Manchester after moving from London, having originally arrived in the UK from Northwest India, where his father also worked as a trader.
A Family Legacy
The brothers both helped their father as children while he built the business. Dinesh, 47, told the Manchester Evening News: “Since I was 13, I’ve been helping out; my dad took over the place in 1992 and even as a kid I used to spend a lot of hours helping; I’ve grown up in it.”
He added: “It’s changed over the years demographically. It was very much a close-knit, tight community when we bought it, anybody new was welcomed in, and we’ve become a part of people’s lives, and they’ve become a part of ours.” Dinesh also recalled the school kid rush, which he described as “manic back in the day,” though he noted it is not as common now as fewer people walk to school.
Dinesh said the shop’s history of being run by close family and friends has helped embed it in the local community. “It helps with the personal touch with the customers and the people around here,” he said. “It’s always a bonus when you’re close-knit, and you know who you’re working with, and they are familiar with how you interact with the community around us.”
Facing Competition
Despite the strong community ties, Dinesh stressed that running the shop is not easy. “Competition’s rife - it always has been. From day one, there’s been so many shops, they’ve always been there, it’s nothing new. We have to be within the community, as well as just being a face behind the counter.”
Mahesh decided to join the family business after finishing university. He said: “It feels like carrying on a legacy, our dad is proud of us.”
Billboard Campaign
The Paper Shop is one of the most popular independent retailers in Manchester and is now part of a local campaign thanks to that success. The shop is one of just 28 retailers to have raised more than £2 million for the National Lottery’s Good Causes campaign by selling lottery tickets and scratch cards.
Assistant shopkeeper Umar Nissar, a close friend of the brothers, was chosen to be the face of the campaign and will now appear on billboards across Manchester. Umar, 42, said: “I’ve been working with the brothers for almost ten years now - they are like family to me now.”
He added: “I’m cautiously excited to see myself on a billboard at some point; it’s going to be a nice feeling when people approach me and ask what I’ve been doing. We have all achieved this together; it’s a great feeling to be a part of it. It’s nice to do things for these important causes. We’ve been here such a long time, and customers know us; they still come in and talk about the old owners - good customer service is important.”
Mr Nisar will be joined by shopkeepers from Glasgow, Bristol, Belfast, Ilkeston and Gateshead who are also appearing in the campaign.
Wider Impact
The recognition comes as new figures show £2.2 billion of National Lottery funding has supported 29,715 projects across Greater Manchester. These include the National Football Museum, which received more than £11 million between 1997 and 2023.
Alastair Ruxton, Chief Impact Officer at campaign funder Allwyn UK, said: “Most people in the UK live within half a mile of a Lottery-funded Good Cause project. That reach is in no small part due to the extraordinary efforts of independent retailers like Umar who sell National Lottery tickets.”
He added: “The remarkable £10 billion local retailers have raised for Good Causes around the country has helped train Olympic and Paralympic athletes, fund award-winning British films and support thousands of vital community, education and heritage projects. We’re putting Umar and The Paper Shop at the heart of this local campaign to celebrate the hard work behind that contribution and make its impact visible in the community.”
