Edis of Ely butchers in St John’s Street, Bury St Edmunds, celebrates 50 years of business
A beloved butchers shop is celebrating 50 years of trading from its town centre premises.
The family-run business Edis of Ely, in St John’s Street, Bury St Edmunds, is approaching the milestone after first opening its doors on Thursday, August 1, 1974.
The shop is now run by Joe Edis, 30, who took on the business with his mum Tracey and brother Isaac, 20, after his father, Mervin, died in 2017 at the age of 62.
Joe and the team continue to keep his dad’s legacy alive after he opened the business at 19-years-old with his father and Joe’s grandad, Mowbray.
Joe said: “I never thought it wouldn’t go for 50 years - but now it’s actually here, it’s really special.
“This shop has come a long way since it first opened, but some things haven’t really changed.
“I think we’re managed to successfully stick to what we know, we’ve done the simple things right and done them well.
“With dad’s hard work and forming good relationships with like-minded people in the trade, it has helped the shop greatly to overcome challenging times in the industry.
“We just want to say thank you to all previous and current staff, and of course all our customers who have helped us get to this point.”
Edis of Ely employs 10 members of staff, seven of which are full-time while three are part-time, and Joe said some of the team worked with his father.
Last year, the butchers saw a social media boom after featuring in a viral video by the Food Review Club which has 183,000 followers on Instagram and 762,000 on TikTok.
The video starred Joe shouting from the shop’s window to beckon reviewer Matthew Binge to try one of their popular scotch eggs.
“We are still seeing the benefits from that video,” Joe said. “We honestly couldn’t believe how viral it went.”
With the 50 year anniversary, the butchers are running two promotional campaigns to say thank you to customers – the first running from Thursday, August 1 to Saturday, August 3 where every 50th customer will be given a gift from the shop.
The second is taking place on Monday, August 5 to offer a special on sausages and further details on this will be confirmed on social media nearer to the time.
