Our history

1914

The family buys a farm behind this building and starts supplying their customers with their own home-reared beef, pork, ham and bacon, as well as fresh milk.  A few years later the shop begins to use motorised delivery vehicles (Model T Fords) to supply the surrounding area with groceries and fresh bread. 

1920s

A second Dike's bakery opens in Portsmouth, Hampshire, which is managed by other members of the Dike family. 

1930s

The age of advertising! The company changes its name to Dike & Son Ltd. William begins to hand over the business to his sons Cyril and Percy.

1935

Cyril Dike, Andy's great uncle, is pictured in front of the grocery shop together with his team of 10 staff. His brother Percy (Andy's grandfather) is busy running the bakery side of the business in Stalbridge. Meanwhile, other family members are still managing the Portsmouth Bakery. 

1960s

Cyril is still managing the shop in Stalbridge (he is pictured in the window!), while Andy's father William Dike is learning the ropes from his father Percy in the bakery. By the mid-1960s he is starting to take over the business, along with his brother Frank.

1969

The bakery business is proving so successful that the Dike family build a purpose-built bakery on the farmland at the back of the shop. Delivery rounds are growing, with regular deliveries as far as Bournemouth, to the point where by the 1970s the business is running around 25 vans. At this point William, along with his supportive wife Deirdre who is company secretary, acquire other bakery outlets in Bristol, Castle Cary and Blandford. Dike's bread, buns and cakes are famous across Somerset, Dorset and Hampshire! William is pictured here on one of the firm's delivery bikes, which now lives in the museum below the shop along with many of the delivery vehicles, which William lovingly restored. 

See more about the bakery

1990s

In 1990 Dike & Son joins the independent grocery buying group Nisa, which allows them to bulk buy and secure better deals for their customers, price-matching products with the bigger supermarkets. Then, in 1988, William's son Andy joins the family business, learning the grocery trade and a year later taking over the running of a second grocery shop and Post Office in Crewkerne. The team of 1999 are pictured outside the Stalbridge shop with William (in the middle). Some of these team members are still working in the store today!

Early 2000s

In 2001, William starts to draw up plans to build a new, much bigger superstore on the land behind the existing shop. Meanwhile Andy is still running the Crewkerne store. The following year William buys a third shop in Dorchester. In 2005 Andy (pictured with his mother Deirdre Dike) returns to help William to run the increasingly busy Stalbridge shop. Picture: Deep South Media

Late 2000s

In 2006, after over five years in the planning, work starts on a new 22,000 sq ft purpose-built supermarket and cafe for Stalbridge. Just over a year later, in November 2007, the store opens, sadly just three months after William loses his battle with cancer. Andy becomes managing director and the number of staff employed grows to 90.

2013

2013 saw the launch of Dike's Kitchen, with a dedicated kitchen right in the heart of Stalbridge. Our small team there were kept busy creating delicious canapés and buffet food for functions as well as supplying the shop and cafe with home-made quiches, lasagne and freshly made sandwiches and rolls. 

See our current Entertaining Brochure here

2014

By 2014, seven years after opening the new store Andy Dike, assisted by then Store Manager and now fellow Director Adam Vincent, has continued to maintain the company's core values of excellent quality food at affordable prices and outstanding customer service. The team have also built up a strong ethos of local sourcing and low food miles, inviting over 100 local growers, makers and bakers to fill their shelves. This has brought the store a clutch of prestigious awards, including Best Independent Food Shop in Dorset, Retail Industry Awards Independent Retailer of the Year 2010 and 2014, Dorset Business Awards Best Family Business, Best Retail Experience and Engagement with the Community. This year the shop was also named Countryside Alliance South West Champion for Local Food, with a trip to the Houses of Parliament to collect the award! Pictured are Andy and Adam with Andy's mother Deirdre Dike at the Dorset Business Awards ceremony. 

2015

A huge milestone! Dike & Son becomes the first independent supermarket in the UK to launch an online grocery store that allows local customers to order their entire week's shopping with next day delivery. Now we've gone even further, offering same day delivery, if you order early in the morning. (We also offer Click & Collect). Our delivery area stretches from Wincanton to Blandford, Sherborne to Shaftesbury and our delivery drivers are cheery and helpful, as many customers will testify (take a peek at our reviews at the bottom of the Home page). 

Try our home delivery service

2020

Our national TV moment! In April 2020 during the height of the Covid Lockdown we teamed up with volunteers from Sturminster Newton Mill to keep our customers supplied with flour. BBC's The One Show  picked up the story from local news stations and the result was a visit from Iwan Thomas. Here he is interviewing Adam about the amazing work being done by the The Sturminster Newton Heritage Trust at the 2000 year-old mill on the banks of the River Stour, while Imogen unloads a new delivery of lovely, local freshly-milled wholemeal bread flour. It really struck a chord with the nation, connecting us with our local history and food producers. If you missed it, you can watch The One Show episode below, about six minutes in: 

See the programme

2023

Our mission to reduce our carbon footprint reaches two major targets this year with the installation of 200 solar panels on our roof, a move that will save the equivalent of 500 trees over the next 25 years, and replacement of all our old open fridges with brand new, energy efficient chillers with doors. We also installed two electric vehicle charging points in the car park available for use by the whole community.

2024

We reach a new milestone with our community charity fund – we've donated a whopping £10,000 to local good causes in North Dorset & South Somerset since the Making A Difference Locally fund launched in 2008!

Read the full story here