DAVE Bartlett is now the last independent butcher standing in Kidlington after another shop closed.

When he opened Bartlett’s Butchers in 1984 aged 23 Mr Bartlett was one of five in the large village.

But last remaining rival Dave Woodward, of Woodlands Quality Butchers, Bicester Road, closed his shop last month. The owners were not available for comment.

High Street shop owner Mr Bartlett, 53, said: “Our trade has increased but I’m not jumping and putting on extra staff.”

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In the early 1990s, he said all of Kidlington’s independent butchers suffered “a tough time” when Sainsbury’s opened a supermarket in Oxford Road.

He said: “It took customers away from the High Street for a while, but they came back.”

Customers value variety and the the personal touch while last year’s supermarket horse meat scandal helped independents, he said.

He said: “People buy their ready meals or mince and find there’s two per cent horse meat.

“We guarantee the meat we’re selling them.”

Mr Bartlett aims for a gross profit margin, revenue less cost of goods sold, of about 38 per cent.

He said: “It’s not about turnover, it about the bottom line.”

Just as important is getting the business mix right.

The most profitable side of butchering is retail – individual customers over the counter – which generates a gross profit margin of about 40 per cent.

Catering is less profitable, with about a 20 per cent margin, he said.

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  • Woodlands Quality Butchers, Kidlington, which has closed            

Mr Bartlett keeps a business mix of about 80 per cent retail and 20 per cent catering not only to sustain higher profit margins but to ensure cash flow. Over-the-counter customers pay immediately, whereas catering clients pay on a delayed basis, with some occasionally defaulting.

He has also diversified into selling made-to-order meat-filled baguettes for the lunchtime crowd, which now generates about a quarter of total turnover.

Two of his four staff butchers work full-time on the baguettes.

The personal touch is key he said: “I suss out whether they’re into conversation or not.

“On the whole, most people like a bit of a chat.”