Being able to call into a local butcher’s shop to be served by knowledgeable, friendly staff who go out of their way to assist their customers, is still a wonderful way to shop. Finding a High Street butcher however is becoming more difficult and thankfully Witney’s Bakers Butchers Ltd are still going strong after 43 years in business.
The business was established by Donald Baker and his wife Anita back in 1981. Donald had been working as an area manager for Hedges Butchers but decided that it was time for him to set up his own establishment, with support from his parents. At the time, the butcher shop fronted the Market Square as the Woolgate Centre was yet to be built. Bakers Butchers opened in April ’81 and a year later Billy Rideout joined the company as the butchery became a lot busier. By the time, the Woolgate Centre opened on 30 October 1987, the interior of the butchery had to be changed around with the original counters moved to accommodate the new entrance. What the staff within Bakers Butchers were not anticipating that opening day was the significant increase in customer numbers and they were totally overwhelmed by demand for their quality meat products.
“We had anticipated an increase in customer numbers,” Billy advises, “but when the Woolgate Centre with its new shops opened, our staffing levels were stretched beyond belief with the people calling in as they walked past. Over the years, we have continued to take on new staff members, the majority of our eighteen staff members have been with us for in excess of ten years and are all ‘Bakers trained.’ Young people join the business undertaking a two-year distance learning and hands-on apprenticeship. They are set various tasks and knowledge tests and are assessed every six weeks. The course provides structured learning and results in an NVQ qualification. All our staff are trained to carry on the standards and high-quality craftsmanship, providing first class customer service, which we established back in 1981. This culminated in us winning the West Oxfordshire Business Awards Retailer of the Year in 2016. We can offer advice on which cuts of meat to buy, how many people they will serve and how to cook them. My son John joined the business in 2006 and now manages the shop. Donald, who celebrated his 75th birthday in January, has taken a back seat but still keeps an eye on what we are all doing. I fill in with all the background tasks which require doing and need an extra pair of hands to do so.”
With an ethos of supplying the best quality meats and produce possible for the most reasonable prices that they can afford, the meat sold in the shop all comes from local suppliers personally sourced by the management team, drastically reducing the miles it travels. Fine quality Bakers Buttercross Beef is reared and processed within a 30-mile radius of Witney’s Buttercross. This beef is matured for at least two weeks to ensure full flavour and maturity. West Oxfordshire Lamb is sourced from farms in West Oxfordshire. A range of English Pork is available from Woods Farm near Watlington. Poultry and free-range eggs are sourced locally too. If you are a lover of game meat, you will find a seasonal selection is available too.
Alongside the traditional meats, you will find a deli department selling home cured hams, locally made meat pies, cheeses and as lunch time approaches, freshly baked baguettes with a selection of delicious fillings. There is a lunchtime meal deal with a special offer baguette, with a different filling every day, accompanied by a can of drink and packet of crisps.
One of the firm favourites which has been sold since the shop first opened are the pork sausages which are made on the premises to their original recipe. There are various other varieties available too and there will frequently be ‘Guest’ sausages with new recipes introduced to the selection. A particular favourite for any South African who lives within an easy travelling distance to the shop is traditional Boerwors which always has to take centre stage when a South African is doing a bar-b-que or ‘braai’ as they would refer to it by. Bakers’ Boerwors is made to an authentic South African recipe, so it truly represents a ‘taste of home.’
To celebrate Burns Night each year, Bakers stock traditional Haggis brought down from Edinburgh. “This year we did a special in-store tasting serving a taster of Haggis along with neeps and tatties. Many people shy aware from buying haggis simply because they think they won’t like but many were pleasantly surprised when they tried it. We also made Haggis style sausages which were equally tasty. To make it all a truly Scottish event, we even had bagpipes playing in the shop.”
Bakers Butchers caters for both the domestic and catering trade, delivering to many restaurants and pubs in several locations around West Oxfordshire. When it comes to Christmas orders, over 2,000 orders start being placed from 1 October each year and in the days leading up to Christmas, especially the 23 December when doors open at 6am until 6pm, the queues are the longest in Witney. The team at Bakers Butchers however are “big enough to cope, small enough to care” as they want all of their customers to have a most enjoyable Christmas meal.
It is worth following them on Facebook at Bakers Butchers as offers of the day are posted throughout the week.
