New store opening keeps it in the family for traditional butchers

The Kitsons, who have been in the trade for five generations and have shops based in Hutton Rudby, near Stokesley, and Stockton, near Middlesborough, opened in Northallerton yesterday before an official launch is celebrated on Saturday.

The firm, which has invested more than £250,000 in the store, has been serving the communities of North Yorkshire and Teesside for more than 70 years.

Its origins go back more than a century, however, when Henry Kitson opened a butcher’s shop in Birstall, West Yorkshire around 1910.

When his son, Frank, returned from the Second World War he settled in Hutton Rudby and went into business with his friend Harold ‘Banty’ Grierson, buying the Grierson butcher’s store that had been trading in the village since 1886.

The business was then renamed Kitson’s in the 1960s.

Kitson’s is expected to turn over £1.5m in the current financial year, with Frank’s grandson Anthony Kitson, 45, now in charge.

Anthony Kitson said: “I’ve scoured the country to source the best there is.

“Our beef comes from Geoff Burrows in Malhamdale, the sheep are from John Penny’s farm in Rawdon and the pigs are from Mike Bell’s farm in Friday- thorpe.

“They’re not only the best producers in the country but they’re all local and that’s important to us too.

“But it’s more than just the quality of the meat.

“We are traditional butchers. Everyone who works for us knows their trade and that’s incredibly important because they can offer advice on cooking and storing the meat.”

Mr Kitson’s sister, Beverly, 41 left her role as manager at the town’s Marks & Spencer store to open the new shop in Northallerton.

She said: “My niece, Ruby Jules, Anthony’s youngest daughter, will be cutting the ribbon and officially opening the new butchers on Saturday.

“She’s only 18 months old so we get all the family involved in the business at a young age.

“We’re keen to become part of the local community and are looking at ways to do that.”

In total the firm has 12 staff, many of them family, including Mr Kitson’s mother, Thelma, as well as his two sons Henry, 20, and Oliver, 19, who both work for the firm during university holidays.