Hi Bernhard
I've just been out to collect some tooling and had a look at a suppliers "new" shop - not really new, they moved about 3 years ago and this is the first time I've been in since! You might find it of interest -
The Tool Centre (Little Sheffield)
104 King Street
Blackburn
Lancashire
BB2 2DT
Tel 01254 57282
Little Sheffield used to be a very overcrowded shop in the town centre of Blackburn selling everything from bedding plants to woodturning lathes (a speciality of theirs) and from Swiss army knives to industrial routers (e.g. deWalt). Very much a traditional ironmongers. About 3 years back they moved and I didn't go to see their new shop - until today. The rear of the premises is a typical trade supplier - lots of yellow/green/blue power tools, Trend tooling (BTW you name it , they've probably got it), etc. The front of the building is, however, given over to a non-professional woodworker's shop with Jet and other machines, hand power tools (including the Kreg jigs), a selection of lathes and accessories/tooling by Sorby, etc. and a respectable selection of hand tools including some Lee-Valley planes.
Blackburn is about 20 miles (32 km) north of Manchester with a direct rail connection and the new shop is about a 15min walk from the railway/bus station. A word of caution, though - they are open "trade" hours, i.e. 8 am - 5pm Monday to Friday, and 8 am to midday on Saturday
Scrit