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A family-run butchers is closing after 35 years of service so its owners can spend more time together.

Howard’s Butchers, in Commercial Street, Risca, is closing its doors for the final time on Saturday, May 25.

Run by husband and wife Chris and Natalie Powell, the butchers was opened by Chris’ parents Howard and Sue Powell in March 1989.

Howard, who is 80, has been a butcher since he was 14 and decided to branch out on his own after working for fellow Risca butcher Reg Edwards.

Son Chris, who is now 53, soon joined and the family have run the successful community business ever since.

During the pandemic, Howard was forced to isolate and Chris’s wife Natalie, a mobile hairdresser by trade, joined him in the shop.

Natalie works at the shop three days a week and continues to style hair for three days a week.

However, the toll of working long hours has led to the decision to finish.

Chris said: “I want to spend my time with my family. I don’t want to be working this hard – it’s a tough trade.

“Dad has taken a back seat and Natalie’s got her own business and it’s a lot to do on your own at times.”

The butchers is famed locally for its custom products from handmade haggis to their fiery sausages.

Over the years it has also done its bit for charitable causes as a seller for the Royal British Legion’s annual Poppy Appeal and for collecting Easter egg donations from customers for children at Ty Hafan, Velindre Cancer Centre, the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport, and Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr in Ystrad Mynach.