Harvest View Brownies Waterlooville shop to close at the end of the year

Donna Penfold started Harvest View Brownies in her kitchen during lockdown and it grew from there as she opened a shop in Waterlooville in 2021. The shop has proven popular and garnered loyal and regular customer base attracted to the delicious brownies and friendly service.

However, despite its success Donna has decided to not renew the lease which is up in December and instead to scale back the business. She said: “The shop has done enormously well. If I'm honest, the decision was made because I can’t physically carry on with everything.

“On a personal level, it was time to scale it back to something that is much more manageable and much more enjoyable again for me.”

While the shop is closing Donna is keen to assure her customers that Harvest View Brownies will continue, just not the shop. She said: “It is sad and I have had a lot of kind messages from people since I announced it but I’m not going anywhere, I will still be around, just without the high street presence.”

Donna is hoping the change will give her the chance to be more mobile and attend pop-up events.

She said: “I am very fortunate that I have still got a little commercial kitchen space that I can move back into. We also bought a van at the beginning of the year with the intention of taking it out to little pop-ups but we haven't done that as we just have not had the time.”

Another point that Donna was keen to emphasise was that the location did not play a part in her decision making. Waterlooville is currently in the early stages of a regeneration programme by Havant Borough Council, with work ongoing to bring new shops and encourage more people into town.

Donna said: “I love what is trying to be done in the town, and that is one thing that people have to try and embrace. It is difficult for businesses out there.”

While Donna is happy with her decision there is one element that she will miss. She said: “We have built a lovely little community, we know most of our customers by name, it’s very social and we have a laugh with them.

“I will miss that side of it enormously, we refer to them as friends and we will miss them but we just couldn't make the long commitment of signing a new lease. “

The lease for the shop in Waterlooville precinct is set to end on December 21 whereupon Donna will return to making deliveries of brownies to doorsteps and workplaces. While the end for the shop is nigh, Donna has assured “HVB is still going and will continue to go.”