A butcher has sent a heartful thanks to all his customers for their business as he bows out of a village community after more than a decade of trading.

Saturday, May 1, marks the final day of trading for Hewitt's Butchers on Church Plain in Mattishall, as, come the end of the day the team will hang up their aprons for the last time.

Dereham Times: Tony Perkins (right), with Bob Kidd at the opening of Hewitt's Butchers in Mattishall in 2008.Tony Perkins (right), with Bob Kidd at the opening of Hewitt's Butchers in Mattishall in 2008. (Image: Archant)

Tony Perkins, who owns the business, said the decision to close the shop had not been an easy one but was due to a number of factors.

He said: "Mattishall is a great village, we have some lovely customers there and a great community as well. It's such a shame but we have just come to the end.

"There's no one main major reason behind [the decision to close] there's a lot of factors, the lease had expired so we didn't want to continue a new long lease. We have had difficult times over the past 12 months with coronavirus, as has everybody.

"The building itself is quite old so structurally that does create some challenges with upkeep and that sort of thing. And, we have all seen a shift due to the covid stuff with online sales and home deliveries.

"We can make it as quaint as we like but if people aren't coming out and we have got ever bigger bills then we have got to make a decision," he said.

Dereham Times: Hewitt's Butchers in Mattishall decorated for VE day. The shop will close on Saturday, May 1 after 12-years.Hewitt's Butchers in Mattishall decorated for VE day. The shop will close on Saturday, May 1 after 12-years. (Image: Tony Perkins)

Mr Perkins said the closure of the shop would lead to two redundancies, with one of the shop staff taking early retirement.

He said since announcing the closure he had received dozens of lovely messages from customers.

Mr Perkins said despite the Mattishall closure people would still be able to buy products from the butcher's sister sites in Dereham and Attleborough as well as online.

He said above all he wanted to express his thanks to customers.

"Thank you so much for the 12 years that you have been supporting us and we are sorry that we are not able to continue with the little shop but we have got away we can keep the customers and everybody fed but the overwhelming thing is thank you."