MADELEY – A THRIVING COMMUNITY
Master butcher at work
Boulton’s Butchers, Unit 13 Madeley Centre, New Road, TF7 5AH
£10,000 High street start up grant awardee
Master butcher Martin Boulton and his wife Nikola run Boulton’s Butchers in Little Dawley and have now opened a new shop in Madeley’s Anstice Square – the first butchers shop in the town for many years. Q: Why have you expanded into Madeley? A: We had been looking to open a new shop in the area and knew there was demand for a butchers in Madeley – people have mentioned it when visiting our shop in Little Dawley. We saw the empty premises as we came out of the Tesco superstore store over the road and decided to put in an application. They are actually owned by Tesco, so we didn’t expect them to approve – they had turned down several previous applications for different shops – but they came back to us in just a few minutes and said they thought it was a great idea. Tesco are closing their own butchery counters and we’re not going to compete with them – we are an artisan butchers. It’s been a major commitment for us – selling our house and our van, investing around £150,000 with a high-tech counter especially made in Valencia. But it just feels right, and we have had terrific support from the people of Madeley and a £10,000 Pride in Our High Street grant from Telford & Wrekin Council. We are eternally grateful for the help towards the mammoth overall cost. As we worked on the premises everyone walking past would ask when we were opening; local people are really looking forward to it.
Q: How important is this for Madeley? A: This is the return of a proper butchers shop for the first time in over a decade. Martin did his apprenticeship at the old Banks Butchers in Madeley more than 30 years ago and this is bringing a traditional shop back to the town centre. There’s something special about a butchers; people come in for the banter and to meet friends as much as to buy meat although our meats and pies are very good indeed! It will be an upmarket ‘farm shop’ style butcher with products, including vegetarian and vegan food, as well as fish, all sold at affordable prices. We are also creating jobs, with counter staff and two new apprentice butchers – its really important to encourage young people to learn these traditional skills. Q: Are we seeing a change in shopping on the high street? A: Absolutely. Covid has played a big role in people returning to shopping locally. They enjoy the happy banter with friendly shopkeepers as well as being able to buy good quality produce. It is part of bringing life back to our town centres, making them busy and attractive places. We are wanting to promote a community hub, where everyone can come along for a pleasant catch up, do their shopping and hopefully leave with a smile on their faces. We welcome people’s ideas on what they would like us to sell and will embrace the spirit of the community.
TOTALLY TELFORD
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