A BUTCHER who has been a part of Chester Market for 35 years has said that he will not be moving to the new site later this month.

David Joinson Quality Meats, which has a second shop on Christleton Road alongside its current space within the Forum Shopping Centre, will be opening new premises on Queensferry Industrial Estate, Chester Road, Deeside instead of moving to the Northgate Site.

"We tried and tried and tried to negotiate," said David. "Over the last 35 years I'd taken six rooms in the bay downstairs [in the current market] I'd had new fridges put in and fitted them all out. When I've come to the new market, all they'll give me is one little fridge. I would have had to make redundancies."

"Over that span of time, they've let me invest and I've spent the money [developing the shop] and now they've said basically said take it or leave it. It was quite sickening."

As a well established local business, the butcher will continue to trade with hotels and restaurants within the city and will also be offering a delivery service from its new premises. Whilst the location will be changing, the 58-year-old says that he is hopeful that there will be plenty of people that will continue to support the business in its latest venture.

"It's a new start but its still a bit stressful as I'm sure anyone can imagine. It's like moving house but bigger.

"You always have that voice in the back of your mind which says 'have I made the right decision?' But I ultimately had no choice.

"[Customers] are very disappointed that we won't be joining the new market but we're hopeful that they'll keep supporting us wherever we go."

"Both my sons work for me and my manager has been with us for 35 years, David Parry. He's like my right arm. So when you have these decisions to make, it's about other people and not just yourself."

Cheshire West and Chester Council say that efforts were made to accommodate as many of the current market's traders as possible.

A spokesperson for the council said: "The council has worked with all the current Chester Market traders during the transition process. All existing traders were encouraged to apply for a place in the new market, and although a number of existing traders did not apply, some have taken the opportunity to use the market as a springboard to opening their own high-street premises, whilst a small number elected to retire rather than move to the new market.

"Each trader was given the opportunity to discuss their individual options with us to help them decide if applying for a place in the new market was the right decision for their business. The size of the stalls offered to traders varied depending on their use, in this case it was not possible to agree a size that was viable for both Mr Joinson and the council, however one of the other butchers in the current market, Geoff Hughes Family Butchers has agreed a lease on a stall in the new market. In total around half of the current market traders are transferring to the new market."

David has said that the new unit near Sandycroft is due to be up and running with the full range of produce that customers have come to expect, within days of the closure of the current market site on October 15.

Further information about the business can be found via David Joinson Quality Meats on Facebook.