Conisbees
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Conisbees
Conisbees are our market's local butcher. They have been providing us with a wide range of first quality meat and poultry for several years. This page is a revised copy of a press release issued earlier.
Being the first is something that the Conisbee family are used to and have been for many years.
In 1760, the face of history changed with the death of King George II and the accession of George III. Guildford was a prosperous market town and the village of Horsley was a small but bustling satellite, a wagon ride away to the North East. In Herefordshire, young William Conisbee started in business as a cattle and meat purveyor and, in 1784, he was inspired to move his business and family to Horsley.
Two hundred and forty years later that same business is still going strong with the seventh generation of the Conisbee family: brothers Stephen and James working with father Neil at the Park Corner Drive shop which bears the family name, and at Station Parade, East Horsley, where a second business has operated for many years.
Just recently the family have made history in another way by being the first butchery establishment in the Borough of Guildford to seek EEC approval for their meat products. The council Environmental Health Department, recommending that the firm sought this higher level acceptance.
With butchers now having to be licensed from November 2000, hygiene regulations now take into consideration more stringent measures than at any other time. Keeping a shop spotless and stock in perfect condition is no longer sufficient. Hazard analysis, critical control, traceability of all stock and produce procedures are now mandatory. Not only were the shops passed by the local authority for the higher demands of hygiene, but received the even higher level of approval in conjunction with EEC standards.
Not only are the Conisbee family celebrating their EEC award, their turkeys won the supreme championship at the prestigious South of England fatstock show at Ardingly. The turkeys from the family farm swept aside the opposition to take the supreme turkey "Best in Show" award.
Neil Conisbee said, "It has been quite an exciting period for both the family and our staff. We are proud to be possibly the oldest established butchers in the United Kingdom. We are looking forward to celebrating our quarter millennium (250 years) anniversary in 2010, and with five grandsons the eighth generation of the business is hopefully secured."