Sadly – after over 30 years of bringing ethically sourced gifts and home ware to the High Street – Windhorse:evolution will be closing down over the next few months. Having made this difficult decision, our aim now is to close in an ethical way that preserves our reputation being an honest, open and principled retailer.

The retail landscape has changed so much since we started trading in the 1980s and we now find ourselves unable to compete with pressure from larger companies and the Internet.

The economic climate has greatly affected us and despite working very hard to save the business, we have seen a long term and consistent drop in sales. As a relatively small business, we are unable to offer the constant discounting that other companies can and this, coupled with the fact that the gift and home ware market has reduced over the years, means that we find ourselves in an impossible situation.

Many of you will have followed us through the recent “100 Days of Ethical Giving” campaign that we ran before Christmas and we were touched by the support we received from individual Sangha members and from Centres. Hopefully that campaign has raised the issue of making positive shopping choices which – despite our inability to remain a viable business – is still a cause that we hold dear.

We remain grateful for the support that both our Customers and the staff working in our Evolution shops have given us – some of them over many, many years. Tribute must also be paid to those working at Windhorse:evolution HQ, many of whom have made heroic efforts to try to save the business.

We would like to ask you to consider supporting the social projects we have had the closest links with – Kupu Kupu in Bali, Ban Sai Rom orphanage in Thailand and the Green Tara Trust in Nepal. All of these small but vital charities are grateful for any help offered.

We will now be closing Windhorse:Evolution over the next few months. We are very happy to share our Closing Down Sale bargains with you and we will keep you updated on which stores you can find the best deals in once we have stopped selling through our website.

We will be keeping you informed of our progress via our website, Facebook and Twitter.

with love Evolution x