by Helen Martin
Former owner Manu Patel with new owners Daniel Ashton and April, Jan and Ralph Davidson.
Guided by owners Manu and Laxmi Patel and manager April Davidson, in July 2015 the popular Take Note in Commercial Road was rebranded and refurbished to become Paper Plus Select. 18 months later, after 15 years of ownership, Manu and Laxmi have sold the business, which includes NZ Post, Kiwi Bank, Lotto and stationery, and are retiring.
After much negotiation and with a lot of support from family and from the Patels, April and her partner Daniel Ashton opened for business as the new owners on Monday 28 November. April’s parents Ralph and Jan Davidson are co-owners. As April explains, “We couldn’t have done it without them.”
April and Daniel were both born and grew up in Helensville. Daniel works as a faultman for an electrics company and, as he’s a shift worker, he’ll be helping out in the shop as time permits. April has worked in the shop for twelve and a half years. She says she gets “a lot of grief” for staying put, but she’s not going anywhere. “It’s very sociable here, the staff are awesome and we have a great time.I love my job and I love the community.”
Going from manager to owner is “really exciting and a bit scary” for the 30-year-old. While it is business as usual for customers, the difference for April, who has studied business management, is that the daily ups and the downs of running the business will now be her responsibility.
Having spent months planning the Paper Plus Select purchase, April and Daniel are now working on plans for their February 2017 wedding.