TWO former psychiatric nurses have set up their dream business in the heart of Wellington after a life-changing car crash.

Jacquie Isaac, 59, and Sarah Clark, 59, have been best friends for almost a decade, after meeting while working in a Taunton hospital eight years ago.

But Jacquie’s career as a nurse was cut short as a result of a horrific near-head on car smash which resulted in broken bones and an extended stay in hospital. “They thought I was going to die.” Jacquie said.

After many operations and a period spent in recovery, Jacquie made it through - but said she wasn’t able to return to her old job: “I worked in an acute ward where sometimes people would need to be restrained. There is no way I could wrestle on the floor with six-foot guys now.

“So I thought what can I do? Me and Sarah spoke and decided we’d like to continue to give back, like we did when we were nurses. That’s when we took over the Pop-up Shop.”

The dynamic duo then got to work selling clothing from the town council-owned Pop up Shop in Fore Street, where they say enthusiastic customers encouraged them to find a permanent home for the budding business.

Sarah said: “People said the Pop up Shop was brilliant, and that we had to find somewhere. We looked at three or four locations and then we came here, spoke to the landlord, and he has helped us out by charging minimal rent. He saw what we were doing and thought it was great.” And thus Essentials Express was born.

It’s a tough time for High Street retailers, especially for clothes shops - but Jacquie and Sarah say they have a canny strategy to entice online shoppers - and claim their new and unused branded garments are cheaper than they would be on the internet.

Jacquie explained: “With the cost of living so high we are selling at a price that just covers rent and costs. We want to pay the rent, cover our stock costs, and have something to do. We aren’t paying ourselves a wage but we might in the future.

“We stock clothes for men, ladies and children, shoes, bedding, all essential stuff. We are buying them from overstock from major chain stores, we don’t intend to run a profit - although we’d like to make back what we spent on the place.

“It’s definitely cheaper than the internet - customers are telling us its even cheaper than the charity shop - but this stuff is all labelled, it’s all new, there is nothing in this shop which is second hand.”

Sarah said the new venture was a labour of love. She said: “We love our work, we love chatting to the people and there’s something different every day. Our stock comes in three or four times a week and is constantly changing. The same thing won’t be on the rails for long and it flies out of the door. It’s going really well.”