Copyright belfastlive
A traditional butcher shop in a Co Antrim village is keeping one eye on the future by taking a more modern approach with how they reach their customers. Chris Milling took over The Village Butchers in Whiteabbey in September 2024, after spending a year working in the shop alongside former owner Fergus McMahon. After taking over the business, he was keen to increase their social media presence. In the past year, Chris and the team have been putting together videos for TikTok , Instagram, and Facebook, including showing customers a behind the scenes look at how they prep their products, as well as more light-hearted skits. Speaking to Belfast Live , the Newtownabbey man said they have had people travel to them from all over Northern Ireland after seeing their videos online. He said: "I left school at 16 and went into the catering trade, I trained as a chef and worked in various hotels and restaurants throughout the years. Then kids came into my life and that changed how I wanted to work, I was getting Monday and Tuesday off and not the weekends, and I wanted to spend more time with my family. "I took a break and tried to get into social media, then Fergus asked me if I wanted to come and work at his butcher shop. I came down here and worked with him, learned the tricks of the trade and things like how to make sausages, and went on from there. "A year in, Fergus decided he wanted to retire, which was grand. We had already built up the shop and were doing really well, so he offered me the opportunity to take it over. "I took the shop over last September and since then we've done a hard push online, we've done different products that maybe haven't been seen before in the shop - it's been going really well. "I think of how I and people around my age shop, not everybody is into cooking everything for a really long time. They've got a family to feed, they want something they can grab nice and quick and cook. "That's always been important, trying to have nice meals but something that people can go home and knock up in 20 minutes. Having the aspect of cookery behind me, I've been able to change that up and show people how they can actually cook things." The 36-year-old saying getting more involved in social media has been a gamechanger for them. Many of their videos give a look behind the counter at the butchers, showing what they have in stock, as well as ways to use their products at home. As well as this, Chris and the team always have a bit of craic with plenty of light-hearted content, including a video showing staff being chased around the village by a cow. "We get a lot of people coming into the shop because they've seen us on social media. It's kind of blown up, we get people coming in, travelling from all over as they've seen us on TikTok, Instagram, or Facebook. It's really turned into a full-time job on its own, which is great, I really enjoy it," he said. "In terms of social media, it's just about putting yourself out there. People want to see what you're doing behind the scenes. They want to see what happens in a butcher shop. "They want to see how you're putting your sausages together or the new ideas that you're coming up with that they can take home, throw in the oven, and pretend that they came up with the idea. I always tell my customers when they come in, take it home, cook it, and say you were in the kitchen slaving away at it all day." Whiteabbey village has a bustling small business community, brought together by the local business association. Chris said local people love to be able to shop locally, and he thanked them for their support. He said: "The community support in Whiteabbey has been absolutely amazing. We get people calling in from the Shore Road, Belfast, and from Carrickfergus . We have a lot of regular customers who come into us, we know them all by name. "We know what they like to eat, what they don't like to eat, we know how their dog's doing, we get to know everybody personally which is brilliant. I think that's a key aspect to a butcher shop, you're not just here to buy meat, you're here to have an experience." For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.
