About Us

ABOUT US

Welcome to John Robinson Butchers, Stockbridge

Situated in Stockbridge High Street, nestled in the heart of the test valley, known for its abundant chalk stream rivers and rolling countryside.

John Robinson Butchers has been trading for over 50 years. John and Monica moved from the Cotswolds in 1969 with their 4 children and bought the business from Jim Correll. In 1994 Johnny and Pete took over from their parents and have been running the business ever since.

We have been trading in Stockbridge and in the local community for over 5 decades. Priding ourselves on high quality and local produce. The essence is always to provide quality food and great service.

Meet our team

Passionate food experts dedicated to quality, flavour, and craft.

Pete & Johnny Robinson

Joint Owners

Pete and Johnny both started young in the family shop. Pete is a qualified meat inspector with a diploma from Smithfield Meat College. Together, they have owned and run the business since 1995, proudly carrying on the Robinson tradition of quality butchery.

Luke

Shop Manager

Luke began his career with us at 17, starting out on barbecues and running sausage production. His hard work and dedication saw him rise through the ranks to become Shop Manager in 2015. Having been with us for 17 years, Luke is a familiar and trusted face to our customers.

Dean

Front Shop Butcher

Dean joined the butchers at just 16 years old, quickly climbing the ranks to become a fully fledged butcher at a young age. He later ran his own butchers in Andover for 10 years before returning to John Robinson’s in 2018, bringing his wealth of experience back to the team.

James

Front Shop Butcher

James has been part of the shop since the age of 10, when he would help carry customers’ large turkey orders to their cars. He worked here in between his studies, eventually earning a Master’s degree in Civil Engineering. After a year in the industry, James chose to return to the family business to continue the Robinson legacy.

Hayden

Apprentice

Hayden joined the business in June 2024 and is soon to be a qualified Improver Butcher under our apprenticeship scheme. He is learning a broad array of traditional butchery skills, gaining hands-on experience in every part of the trade we practise here in the shop.

Archie

Apprentice

Archie started as a Saturday boy, making sausages and faggots. He is now on a two-year apprenticeship, learning all the essential butchery skills to carry our craft into the future.

Our History

Born from a love of traditional curing and smoking, we’ve grown from humble beginnings into a trusted name for quality and flavour, keeping time-honoured techniques alive in every product we create.

History

1900

Where It All Began

It all started with Thomas E. Robinson, our Great-Grandad, in Broadway, Worcestershire. He wasn’t just a butcher — he was a farmer, landowner, and what people back then proudly called a “Master Butcher.” He reared the animals, slaughtered them, and sold the meat in his own shop. Nothing fancy, just honest hard work and quality meat. That’s where the Robinson tradition was born.

1940

The War Years

Then came Alan Robinson, our Grandad, who had the shop during the war. Times were tough — staff were called up, rations were strict, and meat was scarce. But butchers had a quiet way of looking after their own. If you knew your butcher and had a few shillings, you wouldn’t go hungry. Nothing was wasted — wild rabbit, ox tongue, pigs’ heads turned into brawn, even chitterlings. Grandad made sure every ounce of protein was put to use — a lesson we still live by today.

1968

A Leap of Faith in Stockbridge

In 1968, Mum and Dad visited friends in Broadway. On their way through Winchester, they spotted a little butcher’s shop for sale in Stockbridge. Dad was just a roundsman at his mum’s shop at the time, and Mum ran her veg round in Worcestershire. Owning their own business seemed like an impossible dream.

But when they went to see it, they fell in love with the place — and luckily, the owner liked them too. He took the shop off the market for six months just to give them a chance. After scraping together every penny (including the kids’ piggy banks), they managed to raise the £8,000 needed.

And so, John Robinson Butchers was born.

1970

New Trends, New Ideas

The seventies brought barbecues into fashion, and with them, a big boost to meat sales. Then came the Queen’s Silver Jubilee — the village asked us to cater on the common, where the beacon was to be lit.

With our big oven, we roasted two whole pigs in medieval banquet style. It was such a hit, we ended up spit-roasting pigs and catering for events for the next 30 years — sometimes feeding over a thousand people in one sitting.

(These days though, we stick to the shop — no more cooking off the premises!)

1990

Beef on the Bone

The nineties brought the infamous “beef on the bone” ban during the BSE scare. It was a worrying time for butchers, but we stood by our craft and our customers stood by us. Those years tested the trade, but they also strengthened the trust people had in our family business.

2025

2025 and The Future

The shop is still at the heart of Stockbridge, just as it has been since 1968. The values Mum and Dad started with — quality, honesty, and looking after the community — haven’t changed.

And the story continues. James Robinson, the next generation, is preparing to take over. With the same passion for butchery that’s run through the family for over a century, he’s ready to carry the shop forward — keeping traditions alive while bringing in new ideas for the future.

The Robinson name has always stood for good meat and good service. That won’t change.