Nottinghamshire butcher shop with rich history to reopen - and you'll be able to pair your meat with a tipple
A beloved town butcher shop with more than 130 years of history is set to reopen in Newark. G.H. Porter Provisions continuously traded in its marketplace premises from 1890 until it sadly closed in 2023 due to a lack of funds.
The owner at the time explained that the footfall had fallen so sharply that they could not afford to keep the business open. Almost a year after the closure was announced in September 2023, a new owner and partnership has been announced for the butchers.
James Westwood already owns The Reindeer, an award-winning gastro pub in Long Bennington, and The Blue Bell Inn, at East Drayton. He also runs his own catering business but is now in the final stages of reopening the popular butchers.
He said: "The plan is to reopen at the beginning of November. We will officially take the lease at the back end of October and we are going to do a little bit of remodelling inside to tidy it up a bit and make it a bit more appealing."
The business will focus on the retail side of things leading up to Christmas and then in the new year it will expand its focus on selling wholesale and expanding its offering. James has worked in a butcher's before and is looking forward to getting back into the produce side of things.
James has more than 20 years of experience as a chef and feels strongly about ensuring food is a good quality, and hopes to use the butchers to supply meat for his other businesses. He feels that G.H. Porter Provisions reopening will be "well-received" by residents.
Adding: "I know many people at the moment are complaining that when they walk around Newark there are so many places closing down, but there's a reason for that and people need to support businesses.
"There are so many small businesses that are closing and it's upsetting to see greengrocers shutting, bakeries closing, butchers are shutting and far too many local businesses are closing down."
In addition to the butchers, the premises also has a shop section, which James will be working in partnership with the Zesty Brewery in Grantham on. Owner of the brewery, Kath Britton, explained that the plan is to sell a range of their packaged products in the shop and work on specific pairings between the drinks and food, such as ciders and sausages.
Adding: "Beer and food have been a good pairing probably every since food and beer had existed." Regarding the history of the butchers, Kath continued: "We are delighted to be part of it and really looking forward to help bringing it back to life as it was a shame to see it closed.
"We are really looking forward to being apart of it." She explained that some of the products people can look forward to seeing include their Heavenly Blonde bottles, which is a pale ale, and the fruit ciders, such as apple, raspberry or mango.
In addition to being sold in the butchers, there are also plans for a home delivery option for the butcher and brewery products.