Before Tom Courts opened a butchery in Burntisland 10 years ago, the locals described the high street as having tumbleweed blowing down it. Some thought he was mad to invest, but his decision started a chain reaction. Soon enough, the high street was revitalised with a diverse mix of new shops, cafes and an ice cream parlour.
A second-generation butcher, Tom joined his father’s Burntisland butchery in 1986 before his father retired in 1992. However, just a year later, his father came out of retirement and opened a new butchery in Cowdenbeath, while Tom completed his accountancy degree before joining the police in 1995. Tom continued to lend a hand in the butchery during the holidays, so when his father retired again, taking over the business in 2003 felt like a natural decision.
Within two years, the company had become one of Cowdenbeath’s biggest independent employers, expanding into a bakery, delicatessen and a café. The butchery relocated to Burntisland in 2016. Tom and his wife now employ 11 people and have opened a small processing facility.
Tom plays an integral part in connecting the Burntisland community. When a customer visits his butcher shop, their next stop is often the fishmonger, then the fruit and vegetable shop and the local cafe; these shops rely on him as much as he does them.
The majority of the shop’s customer base are regulars. “I’m lucky enough to know most of my customers by their first name, their families as well. That’s testament to the fact that these people come back to us time and time again.”
Tom’s passion for Scottish produce remains at the heart of the business. Lining the shop’s walls are numerous industry awards, from Pork Sausage Champion to Scottish Haggis Champion. In 2017, it was named Britain’s Best New Butchery. It’s not just his craft that defines his success, but the community he has built.
From the butcher shop to the farm gate, connections are what bind the red meat supply chain together. “Everything starts with the primary producer. They are the first link in the chain and if they fail then the rest of the chain fails as well.”
Through independent butchers like Tom Courts, red meat carries more than its value as a product, it carries the relationships between producers, businesses and communities at the heart of the industry.