Scottish Butchers Triumph in UK Awards

Two Scottish butchers’ shops have been announced as winners at last week’s Meat Trades Journal (MTJ) Butcher’s Shop of the Year 2017 awards.

The award-winning butchers are members of the Scotch Butchers Club, run by Quality Meat Scotland (QMS). This continues a trend highlighting the innovation and skills of members who have featured regularly in the awards over the past few years.

Bert Fowlie Family Butcher of Strichen, Aberdeenshire was awarded Scottish Butcher’s Shop of the Year 2017, at the award ceremony which took place at County Hall London, beating fellow finalist S. Collins & Son of Glasgow who took the 2016 title.

Owner Hebbie Fowlie is delighted to take home the top award. “We were up against some tough competition and some of the best butchers in the land, to be recognised for all our staff’s hard work makes it all worthwhile and to take home the title to our village is just fantastic,” said Mr Fowlie.

The recently-opened Burntisland Butchers of Fife also came out on top in the New Butchery Business of the Year category. Tom Courts first took on the shop just over a year ago and invested wisely, creating several jobs and turning the shop around.

“We buy the very best Scotch Beef, Scotch Lamb and Specially Selected Pork” Said Mr Courts. “We give the very best of service, we charge accordingly and we are rewarded for it. It is a great business model."

Hunters of Kinross were finalists in the Innovation of the Year category for the work by the team there to raise over £5000 to provide community defibrillators and CPR training to 150 residents in Kinross-shire.

The businesses are among 250 Scotch Butcher Club members who are committed to sourcing top quality Scotch Beef PGI, Scotch Lamb PGI and Specially Selected Pork from approved suppliers. QMS master butcher Stewart McClymont and his team from the Smiddy Butchery, Blair Drummond was also recognised as a finalist in the new business category.

The annual awards, which are in their 24th year, reward excellence and innovation in butchery, farm shops, food halls and online retailers across Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and Wales. Each business is judged by a panel of industry experts including butchers and consultants with decades of experience in the meat industry.

QMS Marketing Executive Graeme Sharp congratulated the winning businesses and their staff.

“It’s great to see members of the Scotch Butchers Club once again featuring in the awards and even better to see them be awarded for their excellence. Each of these businesses has complete dedication to their craft and it is very rewarding to see them get the recognition they deserve. Massive congratulations to the winning butchers and the finalists at this year’s awards,” said Mr Sharp.