Leeds butcher closing Kirkgate Market shop after 40 per cent drop in trade

A Leeds butcher who delivers meat to champion boxer Tyson Fury is closing his city centre Kirkgate Market shop after 19 years after saying trade has "dropped off the end of a cliff."
Phil Bennett pictured with Tyson FuryPhil Bennett pictured with Tyson Fury
Phil Bennett pictured with Tyson Fury

Phil Bennett of Bennetts Quality Butchers said trade had been going downhill at his Kirkgate Market shop for around two years, but plummeted post pandemic while his other four shops in towns and a village thrive.

Mr Bennett, 39, said tomorrow (Sat Sept 19) will be the last day for his shop in Kirkgate Market, where he learned butchery as a teenager and opened his first unit in 2001.

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He moved to a larger unit in 2006 as Bennetts Quality Butchers grew and now has butcher's shops in Morley, Castleford, Pontefract and Horbury.

Mr Bennett, from Morley, said takings at the Kirkgate shop have gone down by at least 40 per cent compared to pre-pandemic levels and he wants to get out while it is still profitable.

He said trade has doubled at his shop in the village of Horbury near Wakefield and has increased significantly at his town centre shops in Morley, Castleford and Pontefract.

Father-of-two Mr Bennett, said: "It will be a terrible day, but businesses are run on spreadsheets and balance sheets and not on emotions.

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"I want to come out with my head held high, while I'm still earning money from it.

"People are shopping more locally than they are in city centres. My shop in Horbury is a village shop that is trading double what it was pre-pandemic.

"Leeds, being a city centre (shop) has gone backwards. Castleford and Pontefract are busier than they were pre-lockdown. Horbury and Morley are doing fantastic.

"People are shopping more locally where it's cheap if not free parking.

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"Wherever there's more community around the shop the busier it is. Leeds city centre has dropped off the end of a cliff.

"Leeds is missing all the office workers, there's limited access on buses and parking is extortionate.

"The parking in Leeds city centre should be free."

Mr Bennett said during lockdown he created closed Facebook group Bennetts Butchers, which has 37, 000 members and has exclusive offers and sales.

A Leeds City Council spokesperson said: “The Covid-19 outbreak has had an enormous impact on the retail sector and it’s a credit to market traders and our staff that it remained open for business during the lockdown period, providing fresh food for our loyal customers and seeing more new customers coming in as traders were able to source products that supermarkets were selling out by using local suppliers.

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“Whilst footfall clearly reduced during lockdown, we have seen month on month increases and we hope this continues as students and office workers begin to return to the city and continue to support local businesses.

"We’re sad to see Bennetts butchers leave the market after 19 years and we wish Mr Bennett all the best for the future and thank him for his time trading in the market.”

Last September Mr Bennett revealed he makes the 200-mile trip to WBC heavyweight champion Fury's home in Morecambe every month to hand deliver 24 stone worth of pork, beef and lamb - the equivalent of 666 average-sized 225g steaks-a-month.

Fury goes to extra lengths to ensure his protein is free from any substances that could jeopardise his livelihood.

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In early 2015, Fury tested positive for elevated levels of anabolic steroid nandrolone.

He was issued with a two-year boxing suspension as a result – and claimed that consuming huge quantities of wild boar caused the anomaly in his test sample.

Mr Bennett told the YEP last September: "We know exactly where the meat comes from and how it’s been reared. Everything he needs to know about that meat, we know about it. Tyson’s nutritionist asked us a lot of questions."

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