Butchers disappearing from UK high streets – worst-affected counties | UK | News
Areas with the fewest butchers per capita have emerged as industry experts say these high street products are disappearing. Several factors have contributed to the challenges butchers have faced in recent years, including the rising cost of red meat and rising operating costs such as National Insurance and energy. A map revealed towns and regions with few butchers and slaughterhouses.
More than 1,000 of these businesses have closed across the UK since 2010. According to data sources such as Statista, the number of butchers in the UK has decreased overall over the last few years. According to a recent analysis MailMore than 20 local authorities have five or fewer butchers and abattoirs, with figures described as “damning”.
The counties that lost the most butchers and slaughterhouses were Lancashire, Norfolk and Lincolnshire, with losses of around 70, 60 and 45 respectively. The analysis is based on NOMIS Business Censuses data, where the number of butchers and slaughterhouses is rounded to the nearest five.
The area with the fewest butchers and slaughterhouses per 100,000 people is the Vale of White Horse in Oxfordshire, with a total of zero in the area.
“It is quite worrying that butchers and slaughterhouses are disappearing so quickly,” said one industry expert. “The decline doesn’t just affect the owner of the slaughterhouse, it also affects farmers who want to slaughter their animals in a certain way.
“This is a threat not just to the meat industry, but to agriculture, rural areas and the food security of the UK as a whole.”
Many butchers have closed permanently by 2025, including family-run Thompsons Butchers in Cardiff. Locals expressed sadness after their local grocer closed in July, with one person telling the Penarth Times: “I have used Thompson’s Penarth for all my meat shopping for over 36 years and am devastated to see this store close.”
The BBC reported that Britain had a total of 2,500 slaughterhouses in the 1970s. By 2023, this number has dropped to just 203.
The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) has warned that the closure of small and medium-sized slaughterhouses would be “detrimental” to UK agricultural industries and rural communities.
“Smaller, localized abattoirs provide vital jobs to farmers, butchers and rural communities, including specialty slaughter services that support direct sales to consumers, as well as the social and welfare benefits they bring,” said AHDB livestock, retail and consumer analyst Annabel Twinberrow.
