Butchers’ shops on decline in Northamptonshire

The number of butchers’ shops in Northamptonshire has dropped since 2010, official figures show.

Industry exerts put this trend down to the “rising dominance” of big supermarkets.

The latest Office for National Statistics data shows there were 55 butcher’s shops in Northamptonshire in 2018, compared with 60 in 2010.

This decline is gentler than the average for England, where the number of butcher’s shops has reduced by nine per cent over the last eight years. The data does not include butchers in supermarkets.

Chris Mallon, chief executive of the National Beef Association, said very aggressive tactics from big chains are forcing many small businesses to close for good.

He said: “The steady decline of butcher’s shops in the last 30 years has been a result of the dominance of large retailers in the food sector, driving market prices down.

“For small butcher’s shops, it is near impossible to compete with supermarket deals such as ‘buy one, get one free’ and ‘special offers’.”

Mr Mallon dismissed claims that the decline was due to the rise of veganism.