The Butchers Social to The Butchers Shop

How a small business is serving up community support for Henley in Arden.

The Butchers Social, the restaurant that began life in an old butchers’ shop in Harborne, has gone back to basics amidst the coronavirus pandemic in order to preserve the restaurant in Henley in Arden. In such an unprecedented time for hospitality businesses, independents across the country are having to adapt in order to survive the change in lifestyle.

Mike Bullard (pic below), chef-owner of The Butchers Social, has led the way for small businesses in Henley-in-Arden by providing a service to local residents during these uncertain times. The team has created an innovative new menu that offers ready-made, restaurant quality meals for locals to enjoy at home with the family.

The menu is routinely updated, ensuring that Henley residents can enjoy a range of meals each week. And not only that, but the restaurant has now started to offer a takeaway service, ensuring that loyal customers are able to enjoy the famous chicken wings in the comfort of their own home.

Along with adapting the take-away service, the restaurant has also began retailing produce, from local suppliers. Selling bread, milk, eggs and even toilet roll has enabled The Butchers Social to keep supporting their local suppliers and pay staff wages, all whilst providing a service to the local people of Henley-in-Arden. The team are retailing beer, wine and soft drinks with just a small mark-up enabling them to keep the cash flow going which will increase longevity of the business in the coming weeks.

Commenting on the new service him and the team are now offering, Mike said: “It is such a scary time for hospitality at the moment, but we are making of the most out of a bad situation by retailing our products and serving up ready-made meals. We’ve had such a great response from our guests, and they’ve all be very supportive during these difficult times.

“It’s great to see that we can still offer people a service, especially those who are in a vulnerable situation and are struggling to find simple things like toilet roll in our local shops. I am so pleased that I can offer this support and in return continue to pay the team.”

To find out more about The Butchers Social and the all-new ready-made meals menu, call the team on 01564 792135 or visit www.thebutchers.social