Maldon Nub News aims to be supportive to EVERY element of the community from business and shops to people and charities and clubs and sports organisations.

Everyone is finding it tough at the moment and wants life to get back to normal.

We will be profiling some of these local businesses and groups regularly over coming weeks in a feature called UP CLOSE IN MALDON in the hope that we can be a supportive springboard for your full return to business as usual.

Today we talk to Sharyn Warner, owner of Bridal Reloved in High Street, Maldon. During an in-depth Q and A session Sharyn reveals why she set up business in Maldon as well as what she loves about the town's community and their gratitude for its support during the current crisis.

In what can at best be described as a challenging year for the owners of most small businesses, Sharyn Warner is striking for her warm smile and positivity. She is not going to let this second lockdown get her down, she insists, and her determination to make the most of the time shines through.

This is perhaps a lesson for some of us who may have felt the weight of things not exactly going how we hoped this year pressing down upon us, as Sharyn is the owner of a business in one of the industries most badly hit by this dreadful pandemic – weddings.

Many Maldon shoppers will be familiar with the beautiful, large shopfront of Bridal Reloved in the High Street. It is hard not to stop to take a look at the gowns on show, whether you're planning a wedding or not.

Sharyn took on the shop and the franchise in June last year and with the growing trend of brides looking for a more eco-friendly option and a bargain-priced designer frock (they are all at half the original price), business was brisk.

Having spent years as a wedding organiser at a Braintree venue, Sharyn was delighted when a colleague there presented her with the opportunity to buy the Maldon franchise. While lots of people say they love their jobs and many of them mean it, when it comes to Sharyn her response carries with it a sense of joy that is both obvious and actually quite infectious, too.

"I love this job and this more gentle side of the wedding industry," she says, "and working with the brides, being there with them in their happiness. For most brides, it is such a happy time and for those who are a little stressed, you can make all the difference.

"It's all about the service you give a bride at that special moment, not just about selling a gown. They might buy a dress or they might not, but you are part of that experience for them at that moment and it's the most lovely thing."

[H2]Setting up business in Maldon "was like coming home".

Sharyn also describes how coming to the shop in Maldon was, for her, like coming home. Having grown up in Romford, Sharyn first lived in the district in 1990 when she moved to Tolleshunt Major.

"Maldon was where my local shops were," she adds, "and I absolutely loved the place from the first time I saw it."

After taking on the shop, Sharyn tells how she had to learn a lot in a short space of time, supported throughout by Bridal Reloved founder Kate Atkinson and the 18 other franchise owners around the country.

Sharyn also found the support of the local traders was very strong and praises Maldon Business Board Allison Gray for the way she helps the town's shopkeepers.

"I worked hard and got the shop looking just how I wanted it to, " she says, "and then Covid hit."

It's so often a moment in these Up Close interviews with local business owners where a little sadness creeps in. And it's no different with Sharyn, whose smile wanes for a while as she recalls how she felt.

"I was just in shock at first, really," she says, "and it took me a little while to find a routine again, to pick myself up and carry on.

"There has been so much sadness and my heart goes out to the brides, the bridegrooms, the photographers and wedding venue owners, the planners, the caterers and the wedding suppliers. Everyone, really. And I worry now about how many of them will still be there when this all ends. It's a terrible thing to see."

There has been personal disappointment, too. Sharyn's wedding to her fiancé Steve - who is also her business partner and does all the maintenance in the shop - has been delayed until September next year, in the hope that her grown-up son and daughter and her granddaughters will be able to attend. Both Sharyn's son and daughter live in Australia and they both want to be there for their mum's big day.

"We had everything for the wedding in place, but Steve has carried on being my support throughout this, as always," Sharyn says.

And the determined Sharyn is not going to let 2020 spoil the future of the business she loves and with the help of regular social media updates on the dresses available, she is still very much in touch with the brides-to-be out there.

"We had lots of appointments booked when the shop re-opened after lockdown," she says, "though of course there was then the sudden restriction of 15 for weddings. Still, some brides are getting ready for next year now and better times ahead."

On top of that, Bridal Reloved has introduced an exclusive new range of gorgeous plus-size dresses as these are harder to find as preloved or ex-sample. Sharyn now stocks dresses in sizes 4 to 32 – and is planning a special dress sale for when the shop reopens after this second national lockdown.

"I feel much more positive this time around," Sharyn says, "and I will be ready and waiting to open again for appointments as soon as this lockdown ends."

You can find the Maldon Bridal Reloved website here. Sharyn is also on Twitter @BridalRelovedM and Instagram at bridalrelovedmaldon

Telephone 01621 927007 or 07751 304964.