Butcher Joe’s Story

‘The art of butchery is an under-appreciated skill’

There should be a butcher’s shop on every high street, so says Joe Willoughby who has just opened his first butchery on Lymington Road in Highcliffe.

Butcher Joe’s is offering the best in traditional British butchery alongside the premium standards and new practices Joe learned working alongside some of the best international butchers in London preparing meat for top celebrity chefs including Marcus Wareing, Phil Howard and Callum Franklin.

“Over the course of my 16 years in the trade I’ve been lucky enough to work alongside some of the world’s most talented butchers,” says Joe. “That experience has inspired me to open my own butcher’s shop and put my own ideas into practice.

“The art of butchery is an under-appreciated skill and we’ve had to make many changes to keep up with the times, adding some contemporary finesse to the old, traditional butcher’s craft.”

With locally sourced meat from Owton’s, the family fine butchers who have farmed their land at Chalcroft for more than 750 years, Butcher Joe’s is offering classic cuts beautifully prepared alongside some more modern twists with weekly specials and meals made easy, using seasonal fruit and veg, for the modern family on the move. Joe’s award-winning sausages, as well as his delicious gourmet burgers, are made on-site and he’s created a range of specially priced meat boxes including high protein, family-of-four, BBQ and seasonal.

“I believe it’s essential to support the farming industry in and around the surrounding area, whether small, independent farmers, or larger family-run farms with many regenerative farming traditions,” says Joe, who is also working with Ellie’s Farm Shop at the historic Kilnyard Farm near Burton, which has been in the same family for generations.

“I’m determined to keep the farm-to-fork mileage to a minimum and am a firm believer in our customers knowing exactly where and how our produce is reared.”

Joe’s interest in butchery began as a 14-year-old working at Hunt’s family butchers in Gillingham before taking his first full-time job at the award-winning Udder Farm Shop, also in North Dorset, where as a trainee he was awarded the ‘South-West Banger’ at the Great British Sausage Week – a sausage that is now available to buy at the new Butcher Joe’s.

He then moved to London to develop his skills in a more fast-paced environment, working for the well-known Ginger Pig butchers before moving on to the world-renowned independent butcher’s shop HG Walter where he dealt with some of the capital’s top restaurants including La Trompette, Kricket and Patty & Bun, as well as the Rosewood Hotel.

In search of a new challenge he returned to the West Country to a small, family-run farm butchers and helped bring it back from the brink of closure, before being asked to open and run a new shop for Webster Family Butchers in the thriving high street of Southbourne. The shop built an enviable reputation for quality and service, earning the runners up spot for Butcher’s Display of the Year at the nationwide Butcher’s Shop of the Year Awards.

“As well as the skills and passion it takes to be a butcher, over the years I’ve also learned a great deal about what it takes to make a butcher’s shop work. You need great customer service and a head for business, but location is key and 358 Lymington Road ticks all the boxes – it has been a butcher’s for well over 30 years and we’re committed to embracing that heritage by creating a nostalgic shopping experience that’s right at home in the 21st century. While renovating we came across some really beautiful vintage tiles – now it’s up to us to honour that history and take it forward.”