Winner: George’s Butchers

LOYAL customers, top quality meat and old-fashioned customer service are key to the success of his business, says butcher George Abbott.

George’s dream was to open his own butcher’s shop, and he thanked all those long-standing customers who nominated him for the Best Butcher award.

George’s Butchers is at 33 Northwich Road, Weaverham, is run by George and his partner Tina Hallwood, and celebrates its 10th anniversary in December.

“Being nominated is a big thing for us, as it means we are doing everything we can to keep our shop to a very high standard,” said George.

“The people of Weaverham and the surrounding areas can see this when they shop with us.

“We have lots of loyal customers, who love coming to the shop, even if it’s just for a quick chat – we even make them a brew sometimes – it’s great.

“It’s a family-run business, and we’re very lucky to have a lovely shop – we’ve worked very hard for it, and hope it continues.”

Tina said: “We like to be part of the community, and have a lot of long-standing, loyal customers, who have been with us from the start.

“That makes us feel really good, and the fact we have been nominated shows we are providing good quality food, are friendly and make people feel at ease.

“We will give people advice about the quantities they need and cooking times, as well as cooking tips.

“We are here to help people – all our staff are the same.

“We’re an old-fashioned type of butchers in terms of the customer service we offer - we know most of our customers by name and some of them come in for a chat.

“George loves his job and is really passionate about it. He loves meat and showing it off, and telling customers where it’s from.

“It had been a lifelong dream of George’s to open his own butchers, and we guarantee quality and freshness and offer the personal service you don’t get in supermarkets.

“Many of customers have been with us since the start, but we also get new faces because there are a lot of new houses going up. We’re also seeing younger customers as well, and people are going back to cooking – which is a good thing.”

George and Tina live in Sandiway, and previously worked at Littlers butchers in Sandiway. George’s Butchers opens six days a week.

YOUR FAVOURITE FIVE

  • Georges, Weaverham
  • Webbs, Northwich
  • Hormbreys, Northwich
  • Knutsford Indoor Market
  • Littlers, Cuddington

 Highly commended: C Webb and Sons

THE runner-up for best butchers is C Webb and Sons in Northwich.

The family run business has been in Northwich since 1929 and they pride themselves on the produce they sell.

Paul Lowe, manager, answered some questions for the Guardian about the business and the secret to their success.

He believes the main reason for their popularity is the locally sourced produce they sell, their most popular product is definitely the sausages.

Paul maintains that the key to C Webb and Sons’ success is the consistent quality they strive to maintain.

Paul said: “We are traditional butchers and still buy our meat direct from local farms which enables us to monitor the quality from farm to table.”

C Webb and Sons’ main ambition for the future is to simply keep doing what they do best, providing quality, local produce to the people of Northwich.

Our Food and Drink Awards ran across our Cheshire sister titles in the spring. 

Watch this space as we reveal more of the winners online over the next two weeks.