Thorne is milking it

Retail experts from around the world picked their 100 best shops - and Mike Thorne's tiny Somerset butcher's shop today stands shoulder-to-shoulder with blue-chip giants like Selfridges, Apple and HMV - all based in London - as well as the Carrefour supermarket in Shanghai, Bloomingdale's in New York and La Boqueria in Barcelona.

"It came out of the blue, we didn't know anything about it," said a bemused Mike, who runs his shop in the historic market town of Wiveliscombe.

"The first thing we knew was when a photographer from the Daily Express turned up. No one has told us how the judging was done and as far as we know no one contacted us. It's come as a bit of a shock!"

Mike runs the shop with his wife, Rosemary, and two sons. They also have two full-time and one part-time staff. "I never advertise, my business is all word of mouth," said Mike. "We sell on good service and quality, we like to look after people."

The business, which the Thornes have run since 1979, attracts about 800 customers a week. On the Monday after the weekend's announcement that Thornes was the best in the world, staff noticed slightly more customers, although Mike conceded Mondays were usually quite a busy day anyway.

"Customers say we deserve it," he added

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