Alex Farr takes over Butchers on the Green in Milford, formerly The Butcher’s Shop

FORMER pub head chef and manager Alex Farr is set to put his culinary experience to good use as the new owner of Butchers on the Green in Milford.

The independent business, previously known as The Butcher’s Shop was owned and run by Dave Gates for 36 years until his retirement in October 2021.

Keith Potter, an experienced master butcher, then took the helm with Alex working alongside him and helping to manage the business day-to-day.

Last month, Keith retired and Alex took ownership of the shop, with plans to expand the current range of products to include more fish and cheese, and create easy to make complete recipes.

Described by Alex as a traditional butchers, the shop offers pre-prepared meals, alongside savoury pies and pasties, prime meat cuts and roast joints, steaks, home-made sausages in a range of flavours, handmade burgers, traditionally cured bacon, mince, ham, pate, chorizo, barbecue packs, fresh fish, cheese and eggs.

After working as head chef at various New Forest pubs including the Waterloo Arms in Lyndhurst, Alex retrained as a butcher 13 years ago and initially worked for a German product innovation company. He later worked in butchers shops before joining Keith two years ago to run Butchers on the Green.

Using his previous culinary experience, Alex began creating fresh ready to cook meals using locally sourced vegetables.

“We have a fairly traditional clientele so I didn’t know how well it would go down,” he said. “But it has been a big success – customers have really taken to it. My next idea is to sell ready to cook side dishes such as garlic potatoes and Mediterranean vegetables which will all be prepared fresh onsite.”

Popular pre-prepared dishes include duck and chicken stir fry and mini roast packs. All products except savoury pies are gluten free, and Alex offers free local delivery on any orders with no minimum spend.

Products are sourced locally where possible, including local lamb, beef reared in the Home Counties, eggs from Fordingbridge and turkeys from Lymington. Alex has also expanded the range of cheese he stocks in the run up to Christmas, and sells condiments and sauces too.

He said: “Milford really is unique in the number of independent business we have – but people do need to support us. There is a false perception that supermarkets are cheaper but that is often not the case and if you are only buying for one or two people you can buy the amount you will eat rather than a pack size which has been pre-determined by the supermarket.

“If everyone in the village pops in once a week and buys three sausages or some bacon then we’d be very comfortable and there will still be a butcher in this village in another 10 years. But the village has to support small independent shops or we won’t be here.”

In the New Year Alex hopes to begin printing weekly recipe sheets which will be available for customers to pick up in store. The Butcher on the Green is open Tuesday to Friday 7.30am to 4pm; and Saturday 7.30am to 3pm.

For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/butchersonthegreen