130-year-old Lincoln family butchers reopens after devastating fire

Lincoln’s east end residents will once again be able to enjoy the products of 130-year-old Foster’s Butchers and Bakers as doors are reopened after a devastating fire.

As previously reported, an electrical fire broke out in August 2015 at the small family butchers on Monks Road, destroying the building. Surveyors were forced to condemn the property.

Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue tackle the blaze at Foster & Sons on Monks Road, Lincoln

Despite the nightmare that director brothers Mark and Paul Foster have gone through, the store has now reopened with a brand new look.

The shop has been completely stripped back to provide a brand new up-to-date look, and new products will be provided for customers.

Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

Paul said: “We have new equipment right from the front door to the back door in the shop. Everything has been torn down and torn out, right back to the bare brick, the floors been dug up and everything has started from fresh.

“There’s nothing, not a nail or a screw or anything left from the old building.

“It’s all new interior, new colours, new cabinets, which have come in from Italy, and exactly what we want.

“We are really excited to get people’s reactions when they come back to see all of us again and obviously get hold of the products that they’ve been missing for so long.”

Mark said: “It’s a new chapter if you like. It’s a new start with a brand new shop with all shiny new equipment and everything.

“We have a wonderful team of skilled staff, many of them have been with us numerous years with several over 25 years of service. We really are a family business in the truest sense of the word.”

In the months since the fire the butchers have continued to trade from the back offices, not wanting to leave their position in history on Monks Road.

“We’ve been established on Monks Road since 1888,” Mark continued. “That’s where our business has always been so people have got to know us here.

Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

“The Monks Road area has changed dramatically in the last 20/30 years. But that still doesn’t means that these aren’t our roots and this isn’t where we belong.

“We think we have taken the right decision. We have concentrated heavily on the refit, we’ve concentrated on trying to keep catering customers happy and keeping that side of the business going. It’s been quite a juggling act.”

Paul added: “We’ve had tremendous support from our customers mainly via the internet offering support. We have had colleagues offering us all sorts of help too and particularly at christmas, when customers were collecting their Christmas hampers, they just couldn’t wait for us to get back on our feet.”