W Holleran & Sons, Linlithgow – December 2011

The shop concentrates on selling quality meat and meat products and judging by the trade since opening it looks like a very good move. Billy Holleran and his sons,
Iain and Allan, have taken the former chocolate shop and transformed it into a very smart, clean and well presented butchers.

Linlithgow's rich history and central location makes it a popular tourist destination, while a significant proportion of the local population make the daily commute to Glasgow, Edinburgh or Stirling made relatively easy by the town's railway station and proximity to both the M8 & M9 motorways.

The town which was the childhood home of First Minister Alex Salmond, is served by three supermarkets and a retail park situated in Linlithgow Bridge. However, the town continues to support a diverse range of local retailers in the High Street with Holleran's now providing an important addition. Billy has been in the meat business for close on 40 years but it is good to meet a butcher with confidence to invest and with such immense enthusiasm for his trade.

A native of Falkirk, he started work in his local Alex Munro's straight from St Mungos High School. With experience drawn from Munros, Wm Low, Malcolm Allan and Tesco Billy progressed to become Butchery Manager in Tesco at Corstorphine before he was given the move by them to Campbelltown.

That proved to be a stepping stone to Ireland where he spent 13 years in County Cork working with two high profile IQ butchers, Ó'Crualaoí's in Ballincollig and Martin Carey in Bandon.

Billy's first venture into business on his own was in Ballincollig but after a 13 year period in County Cork he returned to Scotland and started up his own shops here.

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