South Shields butcher announces plans for two new stores after home delivery "boom"

A Tyne and Wear butchers has announced that it is aiming to open new shops in the North East after a “boom” in home delivery.

Dickson’s Pork Butchers, which is headquartered in South Shields and has 31 stores, has revealed plans to open two new shops this year.

This comes after a “challenging” year in which the company’s turnover dropped by 12 per cent from £14.4m to £12.7m.

The company had originally planned to open the new stores before the advent of the pandemic.

Chris Hayman, managing director of Dicksons Pork Butchers, said: “Like many businesses adapting to the changes Covid-19 has brought to the economy, this has been a transformative year for Dicksons.

“At such a challenging time for so many businesses, the performance of the wholesale division has been very encouraging.

“Similarly, the launch of the Dicksons app and our partnership with both Uber Eats and Just Eat could not have come at a better time.

“It has been a year of positives and negatives for Dicksons. However, with the operational decisions we have taken and the new products and shops we have planned for 2021, like much of the country we are hoping for a more settled year as we move towards some kind of normality in everyday life.”