Penarth Nub News aims to support our community - promoting shops, businesses, charities, clubs and sports groups.

We will be profiling some of these businesses and organisations in a feature called 'Up Close in Penarth'.

Today, a short chat with members of the Lush family on why their butcher shop has thrived during COVID.

IT MIGHT sound odd - maybe even insensitive - but 2020 has been a year of winners and losers.

While most businesses (think pubs and hospitality) have suffered immensely at the hands of social-distancing measures, a select few industries have thrived.

Last week I spoke with Karey Sharp of Glebe Street's The Bike Shop, who almost guiltily referred to 2020 as a "good year for my business".

And although the lockdown surge of bicycle sales has been well-documented, the resurgence of the local butcher has been less widely noted.

For David Lush Butchers (also on Glebe Street), Saturday's imposition of Level Four lockdown restrictions was the latest government mandate to cause an upturn in footfall.

"It has made us busier. A lot of people have been changing their plans," says butcher Shaun Lush, son of owners David and Maureen Lush.

"People who might have travelled to a relative or gone to a pub are now stuck at home and need something to cook. But to be honest, it has been busy anyway."

It is perhaps unsurprising that the COVID-19-induced avoidance of public transport would lead to an uptick in cycling. But the relationship between local meat and the pandemic is a little obscurer.

Shaun says there have been many contributing factors.

"We've been attracting loads of customers since March and we hope to keep them. People have been cooking home and getting more into cooking so it follows that they come to a local butchers.

"And then there's the environmental thing," he adds. "We've had a few customers come in and say that's why they're now with us.

"Pretty much everything we sell we can trace and it's not come from far away. It's all good, high standard meat."

It is likely that the busy atmosphere inside the shop this morning can be largely attributed to the so-called cancellation of Christmas.

Many residents, including this reporter, have been forced to hurriedly source their Christmas meat after their plans to see family were dashed.

But Shaun says there are plenty more reasons to continue shopping with local butchers long after the pandemic has passed.

"You get a much better service, none of this faceless treatment. The stuff is prepared with pride and we're proud to sell it."