A quirky convenience store in Wirral is fast becoming the epicentre of Merseyside's South African community.
Boets Biltong, on Wallasey Road in Liscard, began welcoming customers in September last year, after owner, Nigel Biffen, spotted a gap in the market for a shop stocking authentic South African goods. Nigel, 66, came to England in 2020, before settling in Wirral last August.
He told the ECHO: “I’m originally from Zimbabwe, but I moved to Johannesburg in 1983. I now live in Spital. My grandparents were English, so it was just like a return to my roots.
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“We came up with the idea for the shop because we realised that there are quite a few people who’ve relocated from South Africa to Liverpool and Wirral. We looked around and saw there wasn’t a dedicated South African shop selling specialised products here, so we decided that we wanted to do that.”
Boets Biltong offers a whole array of South African delicacies, with Nigel dubbing it as "like a s mall Tesco’s, but filled with things from South Africa.”
He said: “We have a license to sell South African beers and liqueurs and we sell sausages called Boerewors, which are farmers' sausages. We also make Biltong, which is like American beef jerky but much more tasty.
"We sell lots of other grocery products from South Africa too."
And the shop is set for its official opening next week, with legendary Liverpool goalkeeper, Bruce Grobbelaar, even set to make an appearance. Grobbelaar, who made 628 appearances for the Reds, will have the honour of opening the store at 12pm on Saturday, July 2.
Nigel said: “One of the partners in the shop was in the same class as Bruce at school, so he got in touch and asked if he’d come along for the official opening. We’re really excited. It’s going to be amazing and we’ve had such a good response."
The opening will be followed by a braii - a traditional South African barbeque - at The Boot in Liscard, with more than 200 people expected to attend. And it's this sense of community that has struck Nigel most since moving to Merseyside.
He told the ECHO: “The people here are amazing. I couldn’t speak more highly of them. Obviously, like every area, there are bad elements, but the majority are great people.”
“I’ve seen so many people coming from the major urban centres of South Africa coming to support me. People have been over from Liverpool as well, it’s been quite unbelievable.”
You can find out more about Boets Biltong here.
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