The man was a regular customer – a heavy tobacco smoker who stopped by One Stop Brockworth almost daily. But this time, Prashant Patel had something different to offer. “Here, take this, try it, see if that helps,” he said, handing over a vape sample from one of the suppliers' reps.
A week later, the same customer returned with a revelation that would capture everything Prashant believed about the future of convenience retail. “You know what, I've been doing this vape for a week, and now I can literally taste what I'm eating. Before I didn't even taste food,” the customer told him.
It was moments like these that propelled Prashant to win the Best Smokeless Alternatives Retailer of the Year award at the 2024 Asian Trader Awards – a recognition that arrived just weeks before his world would take an unexpected turn.
The unlikely retailer
Standing behind the counter of his Gloucestershire store, Prashant cut an unlikely figure in the convenience retail landscape. Here was a man whose previous life had been spent managing IT services for mobile giant O2, someone whose family had no retail background whatsoever. His mother had worked on a pizza factory production line in Harrow, whilst his father delivered printed photographs to pharmacies and stores for Wembley Photofinishers – a business model that belonged to an era when people still took film to be developed.
“My mom and dad are retired. They stay in India now,” Prashant explains, his voice carrying the weight of dreams passed down through generations. “It was one of my dreams to own a business, do something for myself, and plus, it was something my father dreamed of as well, which he couldn't fulfil. So that was a passion. Hence, we plunged into retail.”
The transition from IT to retail wasn't entirely serendipitous. During his time at O2, Prashant managed IT services for One Stop stores, watching new locations spring up across the country and witnessing the franchise's steady growth towards its current portfolio of over 1,000 stores. “It seems to be going really well. That's why we went for One Stop here.”
Taking the plunge
In October 2023, Prashant and his wife Trupti opened their doors in Brockworth – a cold start that would test every assumption they had about retail. The reality hit immediately: “It's hard, physical work, and if you have to put it in one line: you need to put your soul and heart into the business. Your body's obviously on the line, but your soul and heart are the main thing you have to put into the business.”
One Stop Brockworth store opening
The couple relocated from Bedford specifically for this venture, diving headfirst into a community where they knew no one. Working long hours whilst learning the intricate dance of stock management, customer service, and staff leadership, he discovered that retail was far more demanding than any IT project they'd managed.
“You have to be exceptional during customer service, and you have to lead by example, so your staff are doing the same,” Prashant reflects. “The biggest change we had, or something I've known, is don't take everything for granted. Hard work is really necessary.”
Science of customer connection
What distinguished Prashant from many retailers was his analytical approach to understanding customer needs – perhaps a remnant of his IT background. “The key would be staying on top of the market – making sure you have the right products the customer needs. If you don't know what your customers want, then there's no point running the store.”
This philosophy extended particularly to the smokeless alternatives category that would eventually earn him recognition. Rather than simply stocking vape products, Prashant became an evangelist for healthier alternatives. “I would always encourage customers to an alternative. Whenever we had regular customers who used to buy lots of tobacco or cigarettes and stuff, I would always show them the vapes we had. I would explain to them what they'd do.”
His approach wasn't pushy sales tactics but genuine concern for customer wellbeing. When suppliers provided samples, he'd distribute them freely, creating a trial-and-error environment where customers could discover alternatives at their own pace. The strategy worked: customers began smoking fewer cigarettes and using more vapes, reporting tangible health benefits.
“Vape is going to be the future, or heated tobacco is going to be the future, in retail business,” he predicts. “People are now more health conscious. They're moving away from things like tobacco, pipe smoking and rolling tobacco, due to health factors. The transition is happening naturally.”
Deep roots in a short time
Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of Prashant's retail journey was how quickly he and Trupti became woven into the fabric of Brockworth. Despite arriving as complete outsiders, they began sourcing from local suppliers almost immediately – bread from Drapers bakery in Tewkesbury, cheese from a company on the Stroud borders, and honey from a nearby farm.
“Very positive,” is how Prashant describes customer reaction to local products. “I'm not sure about the environment in London, but from what I've seen outside of London, it’s more community-based. If there's a local supply within the community, if you have, for example, a farm nearby, and you have some of their stock within your store, selling them, it makes a big impact. Customers nowadays think: 'Oh, he's stocking local products. So, I think that's the first place I want to go see.'”
The challenge was finding suppliers who could meet industry-standard labelling and packaging requirements, but for those who could, the store became a welcome retail outlet.
The couple's community involvement extended beyond commerce. They donated regularly to MHA, a local care home, and supported the area food bank. “They put pictures of us donating stuff to them, and then some of the customers, whose relatives or parents are within MHA, they come and say 'thank you', even if it's a small thing, like you've donated Christmas flowers.”
“It's something they don't expect, but they find, and they're very thankful of that, because it just makes everyone happy that at least someone's looking out for them, that they're not alone.”
Managing seven staff members, Prashant developed a leadership philosophy rooted in example rather than instruction. “You have to lead by example. If I don't do something, I can't expect the staff to do that, because they're going to think, if he's not bothered doing this, why am I doing this?”
The approach paid dividends in staff retention – a crucial metric in an industry notorious for high turnover. “We used to look after the staff really well. We had very little turnover of staff due to that factor,” he notes with pride.
Facing the challenges
Success didn't shield the store from retail's persistent problems. Shoplifting emerged as a constant challenge, with Prashant developing his own confrontation strategy. “In many cases, when they start pulling and start stuffing in their bag, I will always be hands-on, going to them and saying, 'Please don't do that, and don't come back to the store.' In 99 per cent of cases, they've never come back.”
“We had people with good jobs stealing,” he says, still sounding baffled. “Sometimes it’s circumstances, sometimes it’s habit.”
The psychological toll was significant. “When you're trying to confront that shoplifter, the other challenges – threats, abuse, sometimes physical – that kind of stuff comes with that as well.”
Beyond theft, Prashant identified another fundamental shift reshaping convenience retail – the relentless focus on value as the cost-of-living crisis tightened its grip on household budgets. His response was strategic and systematic: a rotating programme of offers designed to keep customers engaged whilst protecting margins.
“If you don't have any discounted offers or offers on stuff which you rotate around, then you know the customers are not going to come into your store," he explains. “But if you've got good offers going around, changing offers every three weeks or two weeks or whatever you do, that's going to attract more and more customers.”
The psychology was simple but effective. “Everyone is now looking at prices where they can save money, where they can cut costs on their living. And if you have offers, people will notice that quickly.”
The unexpected turn
By July 2025, the Brockworth One Stop was thriving. The couple had built something genuinely special – a community hub that balanced commercial success with social responsibility.
Then everything changed. Persistent back problems made it impossible for Prashant to handle the physical demands of retail. “I couldn't stand or do any physical activity. Hence, I had to give the shop away, leave the business.”
The decision to step away in mid-July was agonising. The store hadn't been sold but transferred to Henley Retail Group, with another partner taking operational control. “One Stop still exists in Brockworth. It's Henley Retail Group who are running the store.”
Speaking from Brockworth a week before relocating back to Bedford, Prashant's voice carries both melancholy and hope. Local customers still approach him in Tesco, expressing how much they miss the personal touch he and Trupti brought to their shopping experience. “In two years, we've become a big part of the local community.”
His advice for other career-changers considering retail reflects hard-won wisdom: “Don't give up. It's not an easy start. Work hard for your soul. Put your heart into it, be consistent, be on top of things, look after your staff, look after your customers, and everything will fall in line.”
The future remains open. If his health issues can be resolved permanently, Prashant wouldn't hesitate to return. “Yeah, 100 per cent. I would not think twice about jumping back in.”
His legacy at Brockworth One Stop extends far beyond sales figures or award recognition. “The thing I'm most proud of is how successful the store is, the way I've built relations with the customers, the suppliers, local communities, and then obviously the staff relations I had. That's the thing I'm most proud of – the relations I've built, and all the difference we made within the community.”
For someone whose journey into retail started as a tribute to his father’s unfulfilled dream, it’s fitting that Prashant leaves with his own success story – an award-winning store, a loyal community, and a vision for the future of convenience retail that is rooted in service, innovation, and human connection.
And if his back heals as he hopes, Brockworth or Bedford – or perhaps another corner of Britain – might one day see Prashant Patel behind the counter again, ready with a warm greeting and a new idea.