Wrexham: Butchers shop to cease trading amid market works

Paul Bowring has worked at GC Hughes Butchers in the Butchers Market, Wrexham for 38 years, running it for more than 20 of them. 

However on Saturday (September 30) they will close their doors for good, following issues with Wrexham Council.

With work ongoing to develop the butchers market in town, Mr Bowring said the market had become a 'building site' and left him no option but to cease trading. 

Paul Bowring. (Image: UGC)

Since work began almost six weeks ago, GC Hughes trade has gone down by almost half according to Paul, which he says has been a 'nightmare'. 

He added: "At the end of the day you can't run a butchers in a building site. I'm dealing with dust in the shop every day and I just can't do it as it could contaminate the meat if we're not careful.

"The council said they had offered me a move, but the site wasn't suitable for the butchers and the equipment that we'd need. 

"There's been issues for years and a lot of little things in recent times means that we've got no other option really. 

"Of course I wanted to carry on, the last 30-odd years have been a proper laugh, we've had some great times here but I just know it's not going to work. 

"I've had a lot of support and kind messages from customers and locals, but people just don't bother coming in anymore because it's a building site. 

"It's been a bit of a nightmare of late really but there's not many other options, so Saturday will be our last day."

READ MORE: 

• Wrexham market traders moving while renovation works take place

• Plans for major revamp of Wrexham Butchers Market given go-ahead

A Wrexham Council spokesperson said: "Throughout the planning, decant and construction stages, the council has been engaged in dialogue with traders at the Butchers and General Markets to make the transitions as smooth as possible, and to accommodate their needs and requests as best we can.

"Sourcing a decant location for traders took time as we were keen on having a building suitable for all traders in a prominent city centre location. The decant site is now located at a prominent location on Queens Square, and this is where the majority of traders who have stayed with us now operate from.

"Compensation was offered to all traders if they decided to leave the markets rather than move into the decant buildings on Queens Square or stay in the Butchers Market.

Wrexham butchers market.

"The butchers did not take the opportunity to relocate with the main traders so we have worked with the butchers and café to ensure that they remain in-situ during the refurbishment works.

"To accommodate the butchers and café’s decision to stay in situ during the refurbishment we adapted our plans to ensure that keeping both businesses as part of the design and delivery process was key to the refurbishment of the Butchers Market.

"We adapted the timings of our construction works to ensure that the phased approach was part of the procurement process so contractors from day one were made aware of two traders continuing to trade during the refurbishment of the Butchers Market.

"We have been engaging with both the café and the butchers on the designs of their newly relocated stall areas; and; the equipment that would be required for these two businesses to be relocated within the market.

"Upon commencement of the construction work we had several concerns raised in relation to dust and noise related to the construction work and several fixes were offered:

· The Council to pay for a cleaning service to come into the market at 6.30am each day of trading to remove any dust that might have settled from the previous day’s work;

· The contractor to extend the barrier from the ceilings fixed to the metal herras fencing to reduce dust;

· Closure of the through access / walkway corridor to reduce the impact of further dust /contamination during internal construction works between the café and the butcher’s unit;

· Fit out unit 29 & 29a in WCBC ownership with a double shop front window that will take 4 weeks to refurbish to allow the butchers to move stock into the premise during the main contract refurbishment (offered a viewing on September 8th)

"The two stalls will continue to be refurbished, ensuring that a butcher’s counter will be at the Butchers Market once the building has completed its refurbishment.

"Throughout the process we have aimed to keep both traders and the public fully informed on the works at the markets through a combination of timely blog posts, press releases, social media posts, radio/print/web advertising as well as physical assets such as posters shared around the city centre.

"Officers worked closely with Mr Bowring throughout the entire process to support his needs, unfortunately, despite the mitigations offered, we were not able to come to a satisfactory resolution and are sad to hear that one of our longest serving market traders has decided to break their association with the markets, and we wish them all the very best in the future."