“We offer second hand discounted and brand new books. Obviously, we also offer coffee and delicious cake. We’re rooted in the community which is key. Both the children and adult community, we’ve got loads of events on which feels like something Stamford has been looking for for a long time.”

She adds: “There’s definitely a sense of community in Stamford. People want to support their local businesses. People love being supportive of the town.”

Stamford is also a popular tourist destination, with Burghley House standing out as one of the main attractions. The grand Elizabethan mansion was used as a filming location for Windsor Castle in Netflix‘s The Crown.

St George’s Square in the town centre was also used a filming location for the 2005 movie adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. The filmakers also used Burghley House as Rosings Park.

“We get a lot of tourists here. It’s a good sort of 30% of our customers are tourists throughout the week,” Lauren says. “Pensioners or retirees love to visit on bus tours in the summer. They’re looking for a coffee, a book and a cake. They’re happy to wander around the town. It’s really nice.”

As well as the togetherness of the local residents and support from tourists, businesses in Stamford also support each other. When asked why shops in Stamford are doing so well, Molly Clegg, the owner of Murano Silver, says: “I think because there’s so many shops.

“You can have the best shop in the world but if you’re the only shop in the town, you’re trying to bring people in yourself. Because there’s lots of us, and we work well together as a community, it brings people to the town rather than to an individual place.”

She adds: “I’m not the only jewellers’ in Stamford, there are other brilliant ones here. But we always refer each other to customers. Sometimes if I don’t sell something that someone wants, I’ll send them over to the other jewellers’. It’s really complimentary.

“So when people come into town, we try and keep them in the town. Instead of just saying, ‘oh sorry I don’t have that, bye,’ we send them along to somewhere else. That bit of interaction always helps as we’re friendly.

“The key to a successful town is having lots of different businesses that work hard to promote themselves and each other. This is what makes Stamford great.”

Local landlords also contribute in helping the businesses thrive. Nicholas Rudd-Jones, who heads up the Little Book of Stamford, says St Mary’s Street is owned by half a dozen landlords who traditionally back local business owners.

“You get relatively smaller scale landlords in Stamford who own 20 to 30 properties and favour the independent sector,” he says. “This is quite important in helping the businesses.”

Murano Silver has been operating on St Mary’s Street for 11 years. While the jewellery and gift shop has faced challenges over the years, Molly says she has enjoyed overcoming them.

“There’s always difficult times but also things that go well. We’re also trying to learn and adapt. One of the things I really like about running a business is that the challenges are always interesting.

“It can be stressful, but as a smaller business that you own, you can decide to change things when it’s not going well. You can then be reactive and move towards what the people want.”

Pubs and hotels have always been popular in Stamford. The town was at the centre of the coaching trade in the 18th century due to its location on the Great North Road.

It became a vital stopping point for passengers and benefitted from an economic boom as a result. The Crown Hotel, which dates back to the mid-19th century when it was a coaching inn, is made of small coursed stones and is continuing to host tourists today.

Michael Thurlby, the owner of the hotel, said the town is always busy. He says: “You can come here and have a coffee, have your brunch, have your lunch, do some shopping, you can have an hour wandering around looking at architecture, you can visit a church. We’ve got the whole experience here.”

He adds: “Stamford is always busy. Because we’re all in it together here, you don’t get those peaks and troughs in business over the year. In November, our rooms will be taken because we have Alltech, who do animal feed across the world, and they get really busy.

“All of a sudden we’ll have a call asking for 20 rooms on a random Wednesday in November. I’m sure that doesn’t happen in other towns. People are coming from around the world to have their meeting here and they’ll have a look in all the shops.”

In September, the Defender Burghley Horse Trials are held in Stamford which attract the best riders from across the world. Local businesses always thrive during the week and are well-represented at local trade stands.

Stamford also benefits from being located halfway between London and York. According to Michael, this helps to bring people in visitors throughout the year.

“We’re half way between London and York. People will stop on their way from both places,” he says. “Then they say, ‘I didn’t know it was as nice as this’.”

Many shops across Stamford also choose to remain open on Sundays. This helps to maximise footfall as Sunday is typically the third busiest day of the week in the town.

“We always say that because we pay so much nowadays in business rates, we can’t afford to have a day off,” Michael says. “Certainly not on a Sunday. People are out on a day out so we have to stay open.”

He adds: “Is there one great reason why our high street is better than others? I guess there’s a number of reasons.”