Pictured: Phil Cowan, Paul Grout and Councillor Jonny Bucknell

Published: 1 May 2013

By PAVAN AMARA

A NEW butcher has set his sights on opening in Primrose Hill.

Paul Grout, a partner in Meat London Limited, made his first appearance at a recent meeting of local businesses at the Princess of Wales pub.

Shopkeepers were discussing the future of Regent’s Park Road, where debate has been raging about the difficulty facing independent businesses and how to help them.

Mr Grout, a former meat buyer for Harvey Nichols, said he had been approached to open a shop in one of the road’s four empty commercial units.
A recent survey, conducted by local group Transitions Primrose, found 45 per cent of people in Primrose Hill wanted a village butcher’s to open.

Mr Grout said competition from the nearby Morrison’s supermarket and Barrett’s butcher on England’s Lane “did not bother” him as “it’s a fair competition.” But he added talk of a Saturday farmer’s market on the bridge was “nagging on his mind”.

He said: “The rent is £40,000 to £70,000 for any of the four available units, and you have rates on top of that. But if ideas for a farmer’s market went ahead one of my busiest trading days would be lost to an external stall that costs £40 to set up with no overheads.”

Mr Grout says he is currently “in negotiations” for a site, but cannot say which one. Organisers for the proposed farmer’s market say they are canvassing opinions to see if it’s what traders and residents want.