History / About Us

John Crawshaw is proud to have his name over the door of his shops because he has been involved with the business for most of his life.

Crawshaw’s Butchers was founded by John’s father Brian when he opened their first shop in Stocksbridge in 1955. Even as a school boy, much of John’s spare time was spent working in the shop, “I always seemed to be working there”, he recalls. John’s Saturday job in the shop was cleaning and washing down, from there he progressed to burger making. His “apprenticeship” swiftly developed into accompanying Brian to the wholesale market to select and purchase meat. In fact, you could say that his eye for quality and attention to detail in meat and food preparation is in is DNA.

Over time, John and his brother Colin took a more active role in the business which to growth and the opening of new shops. They broke new ground in September 1990 when Crawshaws were one of the founder retailers in Sheffield’s landmark shopping centre – Meadowhall. At the time, they were featured on BBC Look North in a “David and Goliath” comparison with other founder retailers Marks & Spencer. Sadly, we haven’t been able to track down that archive footage. Further expansion soon followed with the opening of the Hillsborough shop in 1992.

The business was renamed John Crawshaw in 1997 when John took full control. This lead to a further period of expansion as the production kitchen at Stocksbridge was developed, leading to a significant increase in custom from the restaurant and catering trade – many of we still deal with today. The production kitchen was also set to work creating and making dishes and pre-prepared meals for busy customers to heat up at home.

Our familiar and highly recognisable yellow and black branding was introduced in 2007 and we are pleased that it has become a beacon for discerning shoppers who are looking for quality, provenance, value and great service.

John believes that it rarely pays to standstill in business and that’s why we have continued to expand and innovate. We took a stall at Fox Valley market when the new shopping centre opened in 2016. Then we opened our newest shop actually in Fox Valley in April 2017.

Following hot on the heels of our new Fox Valley shop is our re-vamped website that now gives customers the opportunity to buy online and collect in store. Have a look at our online store to find out more.

Next on our list of “things to do” is to introduce a full online shopping facility that will include home delivery, meaning that customers far and wide will be able to enjoy Seven Hills Meat and other great produce from Sheffield’s award winning family butcher.