Woman buys family butchers after care boss role
After 30 years in care, Emma Jenkins swaps careers to take over family-run Taylors Butchers in Earlsdon.
Woman takes over family butchers after care boss role
Emma Jenkins has been trained by Stuart Taylor, the former owner
After spending 30 years running a care agency, Emma Jenkins decided it was time for a career change. When she discovered that a family-run butchers was on the market, she arranged an unplanned viewing and is now its owner.
Considering a move into food-related work, she said she "just thought I'd go and have a look" at the premises in Earlsdon, Coventry.
But when she walked in and saw then owner Stuart Taylor behind the counter, Jenkins was struck by the shop’s family-run history and chose to buy the business because "it just felt right somehow".
She was trained by Taylor, whose grandfather founded the business in 1938.
Jenkins said the past few weeks had been a "roller coaster" and hard work, but that she was enjoying it.
"Care was mentally draining. This is physically draining - I've gone from one extreme to the other," she said.
Jenkins had run the care agency with her mother for decades before selling it in December 2024.
"I always wanted to do something with food, and care has changed so much over the years," she told BBC Radio CWR.
Jenkins wanted to a new start in a different career
After a short spell in a corporate job, she realised "the corporate world just wasn't for me" and became interested when she saw the butchers was for sale.
Taylor, who had worked there for 40 years and led the business for 22 years, had decided to step back and begin a new chapter with his family.
Even so, he stayed on long enough to teach Jenkins the ropes.
Jenkins added: "It's just been a roller coaster, but I am enjoying it."
Taylor has offered to keep working there on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
"My granddad Percy Taylor started this in 1938 and ran it for many years, then my dad ran it for many years," he recalled.
Jenkins said she wanted to keep running the shop as it was
The butcher added: "I'm 56 now and I took over from my dad when he was 56, but he had me to do that. My kids don't want to do it, they've got their own careers.
"I've made the decision that it's time for me and my wife to do something different."
Although he is no longer running the company, he has stressed that it will stay at the centre of the community because "they've supported us for three generations".