A Black Country butcher has reopened the famous Marsh & Baxter butchers shop in Brierley Hill High Street after always wanting to turn the building “back into what it was always meant to be”.  

Lee Eccles, who has been in the butcher trade since the age of 14 and run the meat and deli stalls on Brierley Hill market since 2019, has now taken on one of the region’s most famous historic butchers shops.  
 
The prominent red brick building near the five-ways junction in Brierley Hill High Street has largely been empty since Walter Smith moved out some years ago. Mr Eccles said:  
 
“I’m so excited to be reopening such an iconic shop on the High Street, turning it back into what it was always meant to be – a traditional butchers shop.  
 
“Our aim is to sell good quality products and to give the people of Brierley Hill and surrounding areas what we like to call ‘VFM’ – value for money – and I am so proud that we will also be doing our bit for the High Street and local heritage.” 
 
Prior to Walter Smith, the building was home to one of two shops in the town that carried the famous Marsh & Baxter name. Marsh & Baxter not only being famous for their shops, but also for their Wiltshire bacon, sausages, pork pies and York hams for which they held a Royal Warrant and sold to Harrods. Cllr Adam Davies, councillor for the Brierley Hill ward, said:  
 
“It’s fantastic to see Lee bringing this historic shop back into use, and locally we’re especially pleased to see it reopening as what many of us think of as a ‘proper shop’.  
 
“Marsh & Baxter was such a big name in our town and right across the region, so it’s great to see that heritage living on in Lee’s new shop. I really want to wish Lee, Corraina and all the team the best of luck with their new venture.”  
 
While Mr Eccles has moved his deli business from the Market to the High Street premises where it will accompany a traditional meat counter, he will also be keeping a meat stall in the popular Brierley Hill Market Hall to help make sure his regular market customers are still well served.