OUR PEOPLE

Husband and wife team, Rosamund and Bill de la Hey, opened Mainstreet Trading Company in 2008. Perfectly timed with a global banking crisis, the rise of ebooks and online selling. Most people thought they were crazy.

Happily it turns out people still want real shops. Now well into its second decade of trading, Mainstreet has won numerous awards including Britain’s Best Small Shop, Independent Bookshop of the Year and Deli of the Year.

Below, you will find all of the wonderful people who help make Mainstreet what it is today.

  • Rosamund
    Owner
    Rosamund has spent her life in books - from reading under the covers by torch, to launching and promoting Harry Potter as Children’s Marketing Director at Bloomsbury. She moved home to Scotland in 2003 and in 2008, she and husband, Bill, opened The Mainstreet Trading Company.
  • Bill
    Owner
    Bill has been a freelance photographer, followed his passion to train as a chef, and then in 2008 opened Mainstreet, where he heads up all things food and drink. Bill drove the launch of our Deli in 2012 and is now best described as a cheesemonger/wine merchant who is nuts about natural wines.
  • Mary
    Accountant
    A qualified accountant and genius bookkeeper, Mary is the hand that steadies the ship at Mainstreet. Master of the spreadsheet, she is also a very keen (and competitive) golfer, lover of crime fiction and brilliant baker. She may be one of the kindest and most thoughtful people you come across.
  • Vicky
    Bookseller
    Vicky came to us in 2022 with a background in history and curation. She is incredibly fun and bubbly, ready to help you with anything. However, her reading tastes are the opposite as she loves reading lots of crime thrillers and often the darker side of historical fiction.
  • Sarah
    Online Manager/Bookseller
    Sarah joined Mainstreet in 2021 just as we reopened in April that year. Like many of the team, she is a brilliant multi-tasker - one moment you’ll find her posting gorgeous images on social media, the next selling her favourite book, clearing a café table as she goes.
  • Kim
    Deli Manager
    Kim is a long-standing Borders foodie and has been leading our Deli since 2021. Sharing her love of cheese and gin with our customers, while always providing help to the staff when they need to get through a busy spell, she is well loved by all.
  • Michelle
    Home Manager
    Michelle, like many of the team, is rather overqualified for the job, being a genetic scientist who previously worked at the Roslyn Institute (yes, that means Dolly the sheep..). She took on managing our Home department in 2020 and is renowned for staying late to get the job done.
  • Jen
    Deli Assitant/Bookseller
    Jen is the perfect fit for MST. Outside of work she enjoys reading, loves the beauty of books, is a massive coffee lover and is also an enthusiastic foodie. Jen has the right idea and bookends her days with a coffee in the morning and a martini in the evening.
  • Susanna
    Home/Deli Assistant
    Susanna has worked in most departments at Mainstreet and is now part of the core Deli & Home team. With experience in photography and running her own business, it means that when she is not in the shop bringing order to deliveries, Susanna is a very busy lady.
  • Isobel
    Deli/Café Assistant
    Isobel is back with us while she completes her Masters in Environmental Science. Splitting her time between the Deli and Café she can make a fabulous coffee as well as make sure everyone gets their cheese. On her days off (when she is supposed to be studying) she spends time with her dogs.
  • Nina
    Café/Kitchen Manager
    Nina first worked at Mainstreet in her pre-university days and luckily for Mainstreet she decided to return to the Borders to lead our kitchen/café with great energy and commitment. She is always quick to put some good music on the speakers and make sure everyone is doing okay, even on her busiest days.
  • Sue
    Baker
    Sue is a trained pâtisserie chef and perhaps best known for her delicious merguez sausage rolls – a smash hit sell-out in our lockdown takeaway phase. Her gluten-free treats are always to-die-for and she always likes to experiment with new recipes she has discovered on her days off.