We need a voice for the ordinary butcher
As a local community butcher, Errol Lenaghan is committed to providing the best quality meat and top services to his loyal customers. But as he tells NR, facing up to the growing list of challenges is becoming more difficult.
With 35 years’ experience behind him, Errol Lenaghan knows the importance of supporting local businesses. Having started from home with a farm shop in Hamiltonsbawn, he opened his butcher shop in nearby Richhill in 2019.
Since then, he has enjoyed wonderful growth, initially employing two staff in the early days, he now has a team of eight working to serve their customers with the finest cuts of locally sourced meat.
And while the consumer’s palate has evolved and tastes can change, he has noticed the return to the traditional cuts of meat and products, such as vegetable roll and chops. Against this, he works hard to market his business in a savvy way, interacting directly with the customer.
“The footfall driver and how we have grown and changed things is we have found that convenience food is massive, but I would stress that if you are selling really really good steaks as well as the old-school products, they are all coming back into play again,” he said.
“People are watching chefs making tasty meals with these products and they want to do it themselves. Beside this, all our high-end products are selling very well, including Tomahawk steaks. I would get them in every few weeks and launch them on Facebook and they sell out really quickly.
“The significance of the growth of the business and getting our name out there has been Facebook, where we have 10,000 followers, and TikTok, which is quite remarkable for a small butcher in Richhill.
“Social media is about 85% of my business growth, heavily using Facebook, TikTok and Instagram to drive the business and market what we do. This has been a very big thing for us, people are watching my live videos, seeing what I have in-store at that time and coming along and buying what they need.
“It has eased the process for them and they feel like they are even more familiar with the shop when the come in to buy their meat.”
Buying their meat from Hewitt Meats, Errol praises it for being a high-quality product, and while it may be more expensive the quality suits its clientele. He also uses locally farmed chicken and a local lamb supplier, and when they are in season, he sells a lot of venison and fresh fish which is brought in from Kilkeel.
The particular area of growth at Bawn Meats has been their wholesale arm, specifically pies, with them selling 200 to 300 pies per week and retailing 150 of those to Grange Farm Shops. Additionally, they supply burgers to a few reputable chip shops including in Kilkeel, where one business buys 1000-1500 burgers every three weeks.
“We won the Co. Armagh best overall sausage competition, which was a big accolade for us as it was actually the first time we have competed, so it was a real boost and we have seen our sales of sausages treble from that,” said Errol.
Priding himself on being an old-school butcher, Errol also knows the importance of moving with the times, not least in an effort to reduce some of the ever-increasing business costs and drive towards efficiency.
“I have introduced newer equipment to try and be more efficient, as well as LED lighting which has helped significantly as well,” said Errol.
“Our electric bill went from £1300-£1400 per quarter to now being £2500 per quarter. We introduced three-phase electric and we had to invest in that, which has made a slight difference, but we had the initial outlay and cost of that to fact in too.
“My biggest challenge is the price of beef. A year ago, 95vl trim used to make mince, was £4.80 per kilo, today it’s £8.50 per kilo; that is only in a year.
“My margins cannot change, we can tweak it slightly at the till, but you cannot put your prices up by too much or you price yourself out of business. We are blessed that we sell so many mince pies, but it’s still very challenging. Sirloin steaks were £13 per kilo, now they are £17 per kilo, I cannot add all that onto my pricing.”
In a positive step, Errol has taken on a pizza shop and chip shop in Richhill, which he said he will use as a new vessel to sell their products as a cooked product.
