BREAD and Butcher is the newest shop to open on Boscombe high street offering a range of fresh and smoked meats alongside locally baked bread.

Friends Vlad Sotkovsky and Lukas Bondyra opened their “dream” shop on 491 Christchurch Road on Tuesday, October 19.

The busy and bustling shop has gone down a storm with the community and Lukas gushed as he said they already have a number of ‘regulars’ who pop in for their fresh cuts and a friendly chat.

The pair have longed for their own premises for years after first meeting in Boscombe in 2007 - already on the hunt for a location on the high street, when the shop became available last summer they knew they had to snap it up.

Lukas is the customer-facing man behind the counter who’s years in customer service roles across Bournemouth pubs shines though as he welcomes everyone like a member of his own family.

Skilled butcher Vlad has years of experience cheffing for the Czech army, working on a farm and as commercial butcher for the last five years.

Now the pair are working seven days a week from 6am until dark creating new recipes and renovating their shop to create a modern butchers with a nod to tradition.

From metro tiles to chic pendant lighting and charcoal walls with feature exposed bricks, you’d be forgiven for thinking you’d walked into a plush homewares shop - before you clocked the meat counter, of course.

Vlad’s partner is an interior designer who created the vision for the shop’s aesthetic whilst Vlad and Lukas have spent the last eight months making it a reality and doing all the work by hand.

Acknowledging they are a new business, the pair are keen to involve their customers as much as possible with the direction of Bread and Butcher - taking polls on social media to see what meat people would like and even extending their opening hours to fit around the community.

Lukas said: “There was a demand for a butcher because people want their fresh meats, we have lots of good products and we are always looking to see what the customers would like and what we can provide.

“Looking forward we hope we can be a success, providing the highest quality, freshest products to our community and who knows maybe we will open another shop one day.”