The Central Meat Company had started as market traders, originally trading in imported meat, but later they specialised in the best quality home produced meat and only the best from abroad.

They decided to adopt a shorter name and chose to call the shops Baxters after the chairman and managing director Mr A.S. Baxter. They traded in St John's Street from the 1930s until the 1960s. Baxters was eventually taken over by Dewhursts who had already a butcher's shop at 54 High Street.