James Alexander& Son

James Alexander & Son has traded as a butcher from 10 Common Green in Strathaven since 1989, run as a family business through that whole period rather than under group ownership. The shop prepares its own steak pies, bridies, sausages and cooked meats on the premises, alongside fresh beef, lamb, pork and poultry sourced from regional suppliers. Customers cite the pies and the counter staff's willingness to cut meat to order as reasons for returning; the shop still handles the kind of specific requests - a particular cut, a large batch of mince for a freezer, a bulk order for an event - that supermarket meat counters generally will not take on. It opens six days a week and is closed on Sundays. The business has no other branches and operates from this single South Lanarkshire high street unit. It is listed in local directories as a long-standing independent butcher rather than part of any regional or national chain.