Dicksons celebrates 30th branch as new shop and cafe opens doors

Dicksons Concord staff members celebrating the opening with Elena Dickson (centre), marketing director of Dicksons.

Dicksons Pork Butchers has unveiled its 30th retail shop and cafe in the region with the launch of a new-style outlet in Concord, Washington.

Dicksons, founded and based in South Tyneside, opened the doors of the new Concord shop after taking over the former JJ’s café in the busy shopping centre.

The new shop is a slight departure in style for Dicksons with a panelled seating area alongside the deli-counter to support a menu of traditional favourites and new products for customers seeking food-on-the-go or plated meals.

The opening of Dicksons Concord will create seven new jobs.

Having opened its first North East shop more than 60 years ago, Dicksons is well known in the region for its range of handcrafted pies, home-cooked deli meats and hams, speciality sausages and signature beech smoked saveloys and will be bringing their decades of pork and butchery heritage into the new shop.

Managing director Chris Hayman was delighted to see the firm open its latest branch.

“Concord marks our eighth retail shop and café in Wearside and we are proud to be continually investing and exploring opportunities to expand throughout the North East,” he said.

“Concord will be the first shop in our retail network to have new EPOS systems installed to streamline our data management processes in relation to customer buying habits, stock control and loyalty schemes. This is part of a longer-term £150,000 investment to rollout new EPOS till systems in all shops by April 2018 and demonstrates our commitment to bringing in new technology and processes that will make the business stronger.

“We are delighted to be opening our landmark 30th Dicksons shop in an area which so whole-heartedly embraces Dicksons and the products we offer as we push forward in our expansion plans to increase our retail network throughout the North East.”

Dicksons employs more than 300 staff across its thriving chain of retail shops, head office and production facility. Established in South Shields in 1953, as a stand-alone pork butcher, Dicksons sells a wide range of meat products, including freshly cooked deli meats,  sausages, bacon, pies, and a selection of hot and cold food on the go.