DELI OF THE MONTH

an approach that leaves each pair (or brace) responsible for their own department. Not only does this structure foster new ideas, it has also bred a spirit of collaboration that drives the business on. For instance, any potential wastage in the butchery will end up being directed to the deli’s ready-meal menu. Or, when the goods department finds out from the butchers what’s going well on the counter they will adjust the merchandising spot next to it.

Having such a tightly-knit team was a real benefit when the pandemic struck in 2020 because it allowed the business to set up a home delivery service within days. At the height of lockdown, the team was turning out and delivering as many as 70 orders a day. While the volume has calmed down now, the shop continues to run the service. Its introduction has also brought new customers to the shop itself.

That said, Brace of Butchers has always had a pretty wide draw when it comes to punters. Ben Black tells FFD that some people make weekly trips from as far away as Poole and Weymouth to shop with them. There’s also quite a mix of buying habits.

“There’s a lady that comes in and buys two faggots on a Thursday. That’s the only thing she’s ever bought and probably ever will. That’s £2.50 every week without a doubt.

“We’ve got those customers that come in three or four times a week that will buy some bacon and sausages, or will take some mince and some cheese another time. Over the whole week that adds up to £150.

“But, at the weekend, you’ve got people who will walk in and drop £150 in one go.”

This customer mix is exactly what Amery was aiming for when he started out but now he wants to target a different segment of consumers – the 24-hour shopper.

After £12,000 worth of investment in technology and a trial period, Brace of Butchers is ready to launch a vending machine service. Located in the shop’s second doorway, the machines will carry both chilled and ambient foods that have special digital ID tags. The whole thing is effectively a foolproof honesty box. A customer scans their card on the machine, the doors open up, they remove the items they want and whatever has been taken out when the door is shut again gets charged to the card.

Given that footfall is strong during the opening and closing hours of normal business, there’s bound to be customers who will want to shop even earlier or later. And the milk vending machine (supplied by Hollis Mead) that is already in the porch has been getting visits at 2am from customers.

Amery sees this vending extension as the final piece of the journey (together with the home delivery service) to reaching his £1.5m annual turnover target, with potential to expand the outof-hours machines beyond the front porch of the shop and onto other sites.

“Once we’ve got the technology in place we can start to take our brand into other parts of Dorset. I don’t want shops all over the place. It’s not what the business needs or what the staff want because you can get too ambitious and take the fun out of it.”

Given the project’s progress, you’d imagine that Amery is back to sleeping well again – now it looks like he might even be making sales while he does so.

braceofbutchers.co.uk

It was a brand new build and I knew I had to go big. It was right next to Waitrose. We sat outside there and tallied how many people were coming out so we knew the footfall was good.