John Bliss Butchers celebrates 60th anniversary
A family-run butchers is celebrating its 60th anniversary, having launched in Shrewsbury Market Hall, when the building opened, back in 1965.
John Bliss Butchers is now in its third generation of the family, being run by Steve Williams, grandson of the founder John Bliss, and his wife Georgie.
The business has been a fixture of the market hall, which also celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, since the very day the building opened.
“Everyone in the family is over the moon that the business is still going. My granddad would be so proud that his grandson was continuing the family business,“ said Steve, who took over the reins of the business from his parents, John and Cherida Williams, five years ago.
“He was proud when my mum and dad carried the business on after he retired. Sixty years is not bad going! We’ve seen many businesses in the town come and go over the years and we’re here, as busy as ever.”
John Bliss, known as Jack to family and friends, originally worked in the old Victorian market, which once stood on the same site, as an employee of James Davies Butchers.
Back then there were around 13 butchers in the old Victorian market hall. But the demolition of the old market and the building of the new one brought upheaval for traders and many of the butchers, James Davies included, decided to not renew their tenancy for the new market. John Bliss saw his own business opportunity.
“Jack’s employers decided the whole thing was in their words ‘a white elephant’ and decided to cancel their tenancy. As Jack had been such a good loyal employee, they offered him the chance to start up on his own, giving him the basic needs of a butcher’s shop in the form of a few fixtures and fittings and a butcher’s block,” explained John’s Bliss’s son-in-law John Williams.
“Jack began with a small box type unit, which he expanded into three small vacant box units knocked into one, with the permission of the landlord, as they had been unable to rent them out.”
John Bliss Butchers thrived as the new market became more popular. John Bliss’s wife Beatie and four of their five daughters - Debbie, Karen, Janine and Cherida all worked for the business.
John Williams began dating Cherida and he also started working for the business on Saturdays. He began working full time for John Bliss from 1968.
John eventually became his father-in-law’s business partner and took over the business completely when Jack retired in 1998. An old black and white photo of John (Jack) Bliss, in his butcher’s apron, still hangs proudly behind the counter today.
“Cherida and I ran the show until Covid reared its ugly head, closing us for the only time ever for 10 days, as some of us caught it, and had a pretty bad bout of it,” said John Williams.
He semi-retired in 2020 and son Steven and his wife Georgina took over the reins. Cherida carried on working part-time until last year.
Steve began working for his parents aged 11, as a ‘Saturday lad’ in 1979, serving behind the counter and performing local deliveries. When his granddad retired, he joined the business full-time. Georgina has been working for the business since 1992.
Three generations of family members have worked for the business over the years – brothers, sisters, daughters, sons, grandchildren, aunties, uncles and cousins.
Steve puts the company’s enduring success down to the quality of its products, its reputation and friendly rapport with customers.
He said: “Our customers keep coming back. Many of them have been coming to us for decades. We know their life stories, we know their children, even their grandchildren. We’ve been serving three generations of the same families in some cases.”
