New sweet shop opens in Bournemouth town centre

The opening ceremony took place on Thursday morning with the chairman of BCP Council, Nigel Hedges, present.

The confectionary shop Mr Simms is situated in Old Christchurch Road and the only sweet shop on the walkway down to the Square.

Co-owners Sam Momand and Sajid Khan have stocked the store with all of the classics including boiled sweets, British fudge and pick’n’mix as well as Japanese, Australian and American confectionery.

Mr Sims sweet shop, Old Christchurch Road

Sajid, 30, has moved to Bournemouth from Reading to open the store. He said: “We have really fond memories of coming to Bournemouth as a kid and getting sweets as a kid.

“Me and Sam are sweets enthusiasts, we tend to get through them quite quickly.”

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He added: “Bournemouth is a great town, it’s really diverse and we’re really looking forward to working with the community.

“It’s a fun environment and I think customers will really enjoy coming in and shopping with us. We have a great variety of sweets to choose from and it’s a fun and friendly atmosphere.”

Mr Simms pick'n'mix

 While cutting the ribbon at the ceremony, Cllr Nigel Hedges said: “It’s going to be great for residents and people coming to visit the town. For example they’ve got Uncle Joe’s Mint Balls which are famous in Manchester - so can you imagine visiting from Manchester and you buying Uncle Joe’s Mint Balls - it’s incredible.”

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Mr Simms is a British sweet shop that has descended generations of confectionery shopkeepers dating back to 1891.

Martin Peet, Mr Simms founder, said: “I opened my first shop because my great grandfather was a sweet maker in 1891 in Lincoln and I’d always known about confectionery.

Sam Momand, Sajid Khan, Cllr Nigel Hedges and Martin Lee

“About 20 years ago I decided to bring all these sweets under one roof.

“I wanted to bring back the old traditional range, source them all and put them all into one shop in Lincoln and it was a success and then I opened one and then number two and three.”

Tony Chan, Head of Franchising for UK and Europe said: “We’re proud that Martin’s original vision of sweet traditions being shared across generations still holds strong today and will continue to hold strong as the business grows.”