Episode 12: Giles Perrin from St Leonards Grocery

In this episode of Be Your Business I speak to Giles Perrin the charismatic owner of the St Leonards Grocery, a local fruit and veg shop selling fresh local produce, which has become part of the fabric of the local community. Giles wears several hats and is also the Principal and founder of Claremont school, an Independent Day & Boarding school.

I find out about Giles` early life, and how he spent his childhood in and around the school that his dad set up, Bedes in East Sussex and 19 weeks of the year at their holiday home on the north coast of Devon, a place he calls his 'spiritual home'.

When he finished school he embarked on a gap year to India and described finding a place which felt like home. There he met people who were outside of the demographic he had previously encountered and it opened his eyes to another world - He would return several times throughout his career.

The following years took him to University which didn’t really work for him and then jobs on building sites and gardening work, where he was attracted to being outdoors.

After another trip to India to set up a guesthouse, he returned to Bedes this time as a teacher. He was happy there but decided out of the blue to leave and took up the post of RE teacher at Frome school in Somerset, a tough comprehensive school.

He describes himself as a maverick teacher who was very good with teenagers and got results - academically and pastorally.

He returned to India for a third time when he was invited to set up an international boarding school, taking his young family to Pune where they stayed for over 4 years.

He came home when he was invited to set up a new school in Sussex and follow in his fathers footsteps. The school became a success and is thriving 10 years later.

In 2021 he and his partner Gillian decided to buy their local grocery store after a chance meeting with Teresa, one of the members of staff who whispered in his ear that it was for sale. They bought it from the previous proprietor who had run it for 33 years.

Giles has found a place where he can do the things he loves, being around people, getting to know them and providing an important service.

Nowadays he spends most of his time off working at the grocery store, with his nephew Jack running the day to day. He has quickly improved the business bringing new products such as free range meat and eggs as well as other local produce and small changes that have made a big difference.

Giles is honest about his work style and describes himself as a risk taker and a master of winging it, he has never had a career plan, but just done the next thing that looks good. He has had a varied career which has been led by his ‘gut’ rather than planned and it feels like it has a few interesting twists and turns left.