Suffolk butcher on why cash is king and how customers can help small businesses

A butcher who landed a huge bill on card payments said he believes we need to protect cash wherever possible for the benefit of small businesses and the public.

Greg Strolenberg, who runs Lavenham Butchers with his wife Jenny, began requesting cash payments in July after the business was hit with a bill of about £300 in card transaction charges.

He said being paid in cash enables him to take home the true value of his products without transaction fees that are paid to the bank – and in turn he can pay his suppliers the true value of their work.

Mr Strolenberg said: “It isn’t just about our small business, it is about everybody. If we don’t use cash, we’re going to lose it and we will end up with digital currency.

“I just wish more people would wake up to it. It is our children that are going to really suffer with this system and for us it is just laziness, it is more convenient to tap your card.

“When you’ve got cash in your hand you’re more responsible for what you’re spending, which is another positive.”

Mr Strolenberg, who in 2021 was named the best UK butcher in the Countryside Alliance Rural Business Awards, said customers have been widely receptive to his plea for cash payments.

In July the shop placed a notice in the front window, and also posted on Facebook, that stated: “Please, if you can, pay by cash, this then means our hard work and money goes straight back to us and to our 10 employees not the banks for doing nothing.”

The post received more than 100 comments and about 800 shares on Facebook.

Mr Strolenberg said he was overwhelmed with the positive feedback, adding: “We do still take card, of course, because we are part of modern society, but we are more happy with cash because we get the true value of the pound.”