David Dudley learned his trade with local and a well-known national butchers. He looks back fondly at these years. Yet something troubled him. Were the customers getting the best possible? And what about all those people in rural communities who found it difficult to get into town to shop? wasn’t there a better way of serving them?

And so it was, in February 1970, that David launched his first mobile shop. From day one he determined that the business would be based on four pillars - service, quality, value, reliability. Now having passed its 40^th birthday, the four pillars on which the original business was built remain as important as ever.

 

40 Years of Caring Service

81-82 Barton Street Tewkesbury Gloucestershire
GL20 5PY

Tel: 01684 292716

David Dudley’s first mobile shop. Picture taken near Bushley Church in the summer of 1970.

The shop in Barton Street was opened in 1978

In 1991 the meat and Livestock Commission launched its “Shop with Assurance” scheme designed to improve standards in retail butchery. After thorough, independent inspections just seven butchers nationally met the stringent criteria and were admitted to the Scheme.  David Dudley was one of the first seven. 1991 was a good year. The Meat and Livestock Commission awarded David Dudley Butchers first price in its “Look After Your Heart” campaign. The national Lean Choice Window Display Competition was launched to make meat shoppers more aware of the availability of trimmed and healthy cuts in butchers’ shops.

Tewkesbury and Gloucestershire are well served by pubs, restaurants, cafés and hotels. It was a natural progression to develop a catering department to respond to the needs of this market. So it was that in 1980 the Catering Department was born.

In the intervening 40 years, retail analysts and commentators have predicted the demise of the independent butcher as super markets grew and shopping habits changed. In many cases their grim prediction was right and butchers have closed throughout the country. Yet David Dudley Butchers remains. The personal service along with those four pillars came into their own assuring that the business survived, grew and is set for an even brighter future.

Throughout its history, David Dudley Butchers has kept pace with changing eating habits. Not restricting his programme of continuous development and progress he embraced IT early, recognising the benefits it could bring to the business. Working hand-in-hand with programmers he developed bespoke software to assist with controlling the business and improving efficiency.

The retail shop in Tewkesbury, the mobile shop round serving rural communities and those who find it difficult to visit the shop in Barton Street and caterers now number in the thousands… each shopping with confidence at David Dudley Butchers.