Before Tom Courts opened his butcher shop he was warned that Burntisland High Street was so dead tumbleweed blew down it.
But seven years on, the small town centre in Fife is bucking a nationwide trend of decline and is thriving.
Tom Courts Quality Foods was among the first of a string of quality, independent traders to show confidence in the seaside community and breathe new life into it.
That vision and Tom’s personal contribution to local causes have earned him the annual Burntisland Community Award, presented by the Royal Burgh of Burntisland Community Council.
Tom, 53, came out of retirement to open his shop in September 2016 after the premises came up for sale.
His late father, also Tom, had previously had a butcher’s shop in Burntisland which he worked in the late 1980s and early 1990s before joining the police.
He said: “When I first mooted coming back here I was told there was nothing but tumbleweed blowing down the High Street in Burntisland, just like ever other town centre.”
But Tom saw the potential in the town, which has a popular beach, a railway on the main east coast line and is busy with visitors in the summer.
Others did too, including the owners of Novelli’s ice cream parlour, which opened shortly after.
Other local people had the same vision.”
Tom Courts
Tom and wife and co-director Norah, who live in Kinghorn, started small, hiring two members of staff, but the business has grown substantially since.
In 2017 it was named Britain’s Best New Butchers Business’ and has now racked up a collection of titles, including Scottish Haggis Champion.
Business is so brisk from the shop and online sales that there is a separate production unit elsewhere in the town and Tom is opening another shop in nearby Lochore.
Tom said: “Burntisland is a town of 7,000 people and it’s busy in the summer, attracting a lot of visitors.
“I knew that if you do the job right, the people will come.
“When we opened, we were quite fortunate in that other local people had the same vision.”
Newcomers to Burntisland High Street
Besides Novelli’s, other newcomers include The Roasting Project coffee shop and roastery, zero waste refillery Grain and Sustain, home and giftware shop Bel & Etta and artisan bakery Sunrise Bakehouse.
The town’s established fishmonger and fruit and vegetable shop have also invested in their premises and upped their game.
Tom said: “We ended up with this really vibrant, diverse High Street which I would say is unrivalled locally, perhaps even in Scotland.
“I wouldn’t take credit for it, but I maybe helped push the snowball of the top of the hill and it’s gathered pace.
“Other people have come, put their money where their mouth is, taken the gamble and they’re reaping the rewards.
Bricks and clicks help deliver Burntisland Community Award
“It’s a business model that I feel could be repeated elsewhere.”
What is it that these traders are doing that has put Burntisland on the up while other centres are in decline?
Focusing on quality and, in many cases, also selling online, according to Tom, who admits his produce is not the cheapest.
Indeed that ‘bricks and clicks’ model was examined by a Scottish Parliament committee when it visited in 2022 during an inquiry into Scotland’s town centres and the changing face of retail.
Tom said: “My father always said ‘never try to compete with cheap and cheerful, be different from the rest and sell quality’.”
To show his appreciation to local customers, Tom gives back to the community, including by sponsoring Burntisland Civic Week and supporting local organisations and causes.
This is another way his approach mirrors that of his father, who was also given the Burntisland Community Award in 1985.
Community council chair Alex MacDonald said Tom had taken a risk which helped create one of Fife’s most vibrant and successful High Streets.
He said: “People come from a long way around to buy quality food in Burntisland and it extends beyond foodstuff now, we have excellent gift shops too.
“It’s a vast improvement on what we had a few years ago.”
He also said Tom’s “generosity of spirit and action” were well-known, adding: “He has expertly blended his personal and professional skills to demonstrate what it means to be a successful business person and also a key member of our local community.”
The group award went to volunteers of the Big Green Market, a monthly preloved goods pop-up shop.
Conversation