Lee’s been a Stratford butcher from teen to retiring
AT the age of 13, Lee Hillier started working, part-time, at Dewhurst Butchers in a career which was to span 46 years. Now, at the age of 62 he’s about to call it a day having seen a lot of changes in Stratford over that time.
Just a few months after his 16th birthday, Lee left Stratford High School (then Hugh Clopton) having been previously educated at Broad Street Primary School (now Stratford Primary School) and has been a butcher most of his working life.
He was lucky to start work as a young boy in the 1970s, a time when shopping in town centres was still in its heyday.
“When I started, Stratford had eight butchers, four greengrocers, delicatessens, bakers and fishmongers but most are gone now,” Lee told the Herald. “Stratford used to be like a Cotswold town. There was a community here like you find in the Cotswolds, but not anymore. Stratford now has so many supermarkets where people go to buy their meat, mostly in packets, instead of a weekly visit to the butchers. I’ve seen the changes.”
Lee runs Hilliers Butchers in Brookside Road, Stratford, and has done so for more than 14 years. He and his wife, Gaye, have also been shopkeepers, running very busy stores, including in Snitterfield where they won the Neighbourhood Shop of the Year in 2004 and a trip to Buckingham Palace for a garden party.
However, being a butcher was never far away from Lee’s thoughts, so he went back into the profession and opened Hilliers, just yards from where he grew up.
But that’s about to end with Lee citing five reasons.
“The lease is finishing,” he said, “I have three people who work with me who are in their late 60s and early 70s and want to finish. You can’t get youngsters to come in and train them up – I’ve tried. Supermarkets have decimated the trade. And, finally, my energy bills have soared in the last 18 months. I used to pay £600 to £700 a month for my energy but that’s now £1,500 because I do things the traditional way and use walk-in fridge freezers. They are on all weekend so I use a lot of energy and it’s crippling, whereas a supermarket gets its meat delivered.”
He added: “I work 60 hours a week, I’m up at 5.30am and work through to 5pm. I work harder than 10 years ago for less profit. I still want to work and do something so I’m not fully retiring.”
Four years ago, when lockdown hit, Hilliers Butchers was busier than ever.
“Trade increased 300 per cent,” Lee explained. “We had people queuing from 7am each day because in addition to meat we could sell eggs, cheese, butter and bread and we did 70 to 80 deliveries each weekend. Elderly customers were particularly grateful.”
A butcher like Lee has also observed a change in our eating habits. Younger consumers are more likely to buy mince and chicken breast (or a takeaway with additives), he says. His two personal favourites are a shoulder of lamb “done slowly” and a ribeye steak with fat in the middle.
Not getting up at 5.30am means Lee will have more time to spend time with Gaye at their caravan in Devon where he likes to go fishing and spend time in his boat. He also enjoys cycling.
Lee is still active in the Snitterfield community and has been for years.
He has organised the annual bonfire in the village, which is attended by 800 people, for over 15 years. He cooked the barbecue at the village fete and he’s chairman, groundsman and occasional player for Snitterfield Cricket Club, which he founded in 2003. The club has ambitious plans for a new £200,000 pavilion.
Lee has just a few more days left with his customers, some of whom he’s known for years.
“I’ve enjoyed it and when people found out I was leaving they came in and wished me well. It’s nice because you then know what people think of you,” Lee said.