Jaffé & Neale Bookshop and Café

Polly Jaffé and Patrick Neale met in the travel section of Waterstones in Bristol in the early 1990s and count over 70 years of bookselling between them. They arrived in Chipping Norton in 2001 with three sons and took over The Bookshop Chipping Norton. Jaffé & Neale Bookshop launched in West Street that year. In 2006 they bought the present premises at 1 Middle Row. The building was large enough for the second part of their plan, a place where people could meet and talk surrounded by books. The shop won Independent Bookshop of the Year in 2007. Its focus from the start has been good books and good customer service. The team likes nothing better than talking to a customer about what to read next. A café serves coffee and cakes at tables placed to watch the comings and goings of the Market Square. Cards, stationery and gifts are chosen from a range of small brands. Patrick has been President of the Booksellers Association and helps people who want to open a bookshop. Polly sits on the Children's Bookselling Committee and looks after the children's section. Newsletters carry news of forthcoming titles, a book club and signing events at the store. The owners describe their aim as holding onto the traditional values of high street bookselling.