Shop where film director Steven Spielberg rubs shoulders with regulars

Phyllis and Lee Harper: ‘At times it has been a struggle’

THEIR sausages have delighted the taste buds of the great and the good of Highgate, and even Hollywood, for the last 30 years.
When Steven Spielberg was in town for the launch of Saving Private Ryan, it was to Highgate Butchers in the High Street that he turned for sausages and minced sirloin for the celebrity barbecue that followed.
For Phyllis Harper, 57, and her son Lee, 28, who own the shop, their 30th anniversary was a chance to say thank-you to the many loyal customers who, they say, have kept them in business.
They organised a glittering wine and canapé party at the headquarters of the Highgate Society in South Grove last month that was attended by clientele and fellow traders alike.
Mrs Harper said: “We pride ourselves on quality and service. But our success is down to our loyal customers. As long as the customers keep coming in, we’ll keep serving.”
The Harpers’ story is worthy of a film itself. Mrs Harper, who trained as a hairdresser, was 33 when her husband, Paul, a master butcher, died of a heart attack, leaving her with four-year-old Lee and another baby on the way.
Mrs Harper, who raised the two children on her own, decided to continue the business with the help of another master butcher. When Lee was 17, he did a two-week placement at the shop and both soon realised he was a natural.
Mrs Harper said: “He’s virtually self-taught but he will be able to call himself a master butcher in a year or so. He is a chip of the old block. His father would have been very proud.”
Over the years, the business has withstood attacks by animal rights campaigners, the mad cow disease scare – and a nearby IRA bomb in the early 1990s which almost blew them out of bed.
It has also withstood changing tastes. Mr Harper said: “Now everything has to be skinless and boneless and lean. People want things that are quick and easy to make so the home-made sausages are very popular.”
Despite the hard work involved, both love the business.
Mrs Harper said: “We haven’t had a holiday in five years and at times it has been a real struggle. But on the plus side you have the customers – you never know who will come in.”