National Craft Butchers announce return of the Big British Butchers Survey

National Craft Butchers (NCB) has announced that the Big British Butchers Survey 2023 will go live on Tuesday 14 March, with the trade association now calling on independent butchers across the UK to take part and have their say.

Following on from the Big British Butchers Survey 2021, which was the first ever industry survey for the nation’s independent butchers, this year’s results will offer an insight into the state of the industry two years’ on. Data on turnover, opening hours, apprenticeships and sourcing will provide a valuable health-check on independent butchery in the UK, as small businesses seek to combat the challenges posed by the cost-of-living crisis and energy price increases.

NCB’s 2021 survey offered a range of findings that have helped inform the development of the industry over the past two years, including a profile of the ‘average’ butcher in the UK. The survey found that 45% were based on the high street, 26% in a small parade of shops and 10% were farm shops, while 47% were based in a town, 29% in villages and 15% rural. Other diverse insights included 96% uptake of social media, 35% having apprenticeship schemes in place and 87% saying they prioritised local produce.

The Big British Butchers Survey 2023 will now build on this data and track the progress of the embattled industry, as it moves from the challenges of the Covid pandemic straight into a cost-of-living crisis that is impacting heavily on consumer buying habits. The survey will set out to ascertain how butchers are adapting to these changes, while responding to an increase in consumer interest in both provenance and sustainability, with findings geared towards an identification of what the industry needs to thrive going forward.

Eleanor O’Brien, managing director of National Craft Butchers, commented:

“Covid now seems, to an extent at least, ‘behind us’, but as a wave of new issues face independent butchers, it’s more important than ever for National Craft Butchers to understand what this means on the ground. We want to know whether the customer changes witnessed in 2021 have continued, how the recent energy price increases have affected businesses and what the industry needs going forward. This is a survey of British butchers, for British butchers, so we would urge all independent butchers across the UK to take a few minutes to complete the questionnaire and ensure that their voice is heard.”

The Big British Butchers Survey 2023 will be online here from Tuesday 14 March and is open to all butchers across the UK to complete throughout March and April. The results will be announced on Wednesday 28 June.

For more information on National Craft Butchers, visit nationalcraftbutchers.co.uk.