Popular Lindfield butcher Gyn Thomas & Sons has been bought by one of the partners.

Ian Thomas retired last month and John Cottenham, who has been a partner in the business for seven years, took over as sole owner.

John, who lives in Plumpton, knows the village well since working with Ian and he says that he classes his customers as ‘more like friends’.

The name will remain, as will the current staf, and they will continue to use the same high quality local suppliers. However, John will be using his own personal connections with farmers to add local specials including lamb from the South Downs expected in this month.

Within six days of opening the doors under the new ownership John is proud to say that they have achieved 5 points on the Food Health Rating awarded by MSDC – the fist butcher in Mid Sussex to attain the top award.

Plans for the future include being proactive with the local schools, working more with local pubs and restaurants, and John is also planning to run butchery training courses at the shop due to popular demand.