Butcher, 82, still loves job after nearly 70 years

A butcher who started learning his craft when he was 13 years old still loves the job at the age of 82 - nearly 70 years later.

Tom Lymer runs Lymers in Droitwich High Street, in Worcestershire, which has just celebrated its 50th anniversary.

The butcher, who runs the business with his wife Sandy, said he still got a buzz from being behind the counter.

"I just love talking to the people who come in. I'd miss my lovely customers if I ever stopped," he said.

Customers come from far and wide to the butcher's shop - often travelling many miles, says Tom Lymer

Mr Lymer said he got the idea of becoming a butcher when he was still at school and worked his way up to managing another butcher's in Droitwich High Street before his current unit became available in 1975.

"Mr Hale, my old school teacher, said, 'Does anybody want a little job after school?' I was 13 at the time and put my hand up.

"He said, 'Go down and see Mr Boston' [who owned a now-closed butcher's in the street] and tell him Mr Hale sent you'.

"That was down the road from here. I really started learning the trade properly at 15 and was a manager at 19.

"It was the mid-70s when I heard this shop unit was available, so I went for it."

Mrs Lymer used to work in banking, and after her retirement five years ago, she started to work alongside her husband in the shop.

"He's got quite a reputation, has Tom; he's a legend - we've looked at him retiring, but I don't think that's ever going to happen; he just likes it so much," she said.

"He loves his customers, and they love him - he's serving the grandchildren of the grandmothers and grandfathers that he first served, which is lovely."

The butcher says some regulars have been shopping at Lymers for decades

'We love meeting people'

The couple said it was an "honour" to have been running Lymers for 50 years - especially with stiff competition from supermarkets.

"It's the customer service that people come in for - that and the quality of the food," said Mrs Lymer.

"As well as the locals, we get people coming in who might have moved away from Droitwich - like Cornwall, for example, and when they come back here, they pop in because they know us and like us. It's lovely."

Mr Lymer added: "Our stuff is all locally sourced - I've never followed what the supermarkets do; we do our own thing.

"And it's meeting the people that we love - we do have some very loyal customers; we'll keep going as long as we can."