‘Apprenticeships for all’ celebrated at Institute of Meat and Worshipful Company of Butchers Annual Prizegiving

Echoing a key theme of National Apprenticeships Week, the Institute of Meat (IoM) and Worshipful Company of Butchers (WCB) Prizegiving this year demonstrated better than ever before how the meat industry is a welcoming place for all.

Butchers Hall was packed today (29^th February) with over a hundred guests who joined together to applaud the achievements of the winning apprentices. Of those winners not only did women make up over fifty percent but also two-thirds of the total number were over 25 years of age.

And of course any top achieving apprentice needs a supportive employer and dedicated training provider behind them. The IoM/WCB’s Prizegiving commended these too, as IoM Chief Executive Keith Fisher, together with Master of the Worshipful Co, Chris Wood, presented awards to the following category winners.

AWARD	WINNER	EMPLOYER	SPONSOR	TRAINING PROVIDER
Best New Apprentice	Joshua Robinson	Morrisons	Windsor Food Machinery	Remit Training
Best Retailer Butchery Apprentice	Helena Akroyd	Craggies Farm Shop	National Craft Butchers	Leeds City College
Best Independent Retailer Meat Apprentice	Olivia Slack	Crich Butchers	Dalziel Ltd	MEAT Ipswich
Best In-Store Multiple Retailer Butchery Apprentice	Esther Sollis	Morrisons	IoM (Paul Edkins Memorial cup)	Remit Training
Best Meat Processing Apprentice	Ana Marques	Gressingham Foods	British Meat Processors Association	Workforce Training & Development
Best Abattoir Worker Apprentice	Michaela Robinson	Cranswick Country Foods	ABP Food Group	Workforce Training & Development
Best Apprentice Showing Management Potential in a Manufacturing Environment	Luke Hobson	Pilgrims UK	Worshipful Company of Poulters	Bishop Burton
Best Meat Apprentice Showing Real Management Potential	Niall Hutchinson	Millets Farm Shop	Oakfield Foods Ltd	MEAT Ipswich
Lord Graham Endeavour Award	Matt Axeford	Morrisons	IoM (Kenneth Jenkins cup)	Remit Training
Best Company Training Scheme	Kepak, Bodmin		IoM	Workforce Training & Development
Best Meat Training Provider of the Year	Workforce Training & Development		WCB (Fred Mallion Bowl)

The most prized apprentice award, Champion Meat Apprentice, sponsored by Meat Management magazine, was won by Helena Akroyd of Craggies Farm Shop, Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire. Helena received a winner’s trophy and certificate, a years free membership of the IoM plus an additional cash prize of £500.

The apprentice category winners each received a cheque for £250, a framed certificate and a years free membership of the Institute of Meat.

Commenting on the prizegiving, Keith Fisher said,

‘When we launched the awards over 30 years ago our intentions were to provide formal recognition of butchery skills and to keep the craft of butchery alive. I’m proud to say that I think we’ve played our part in achieving much more than that. Not only do we have a new generation of butchers respecting the traditional craft of butchery, but one that is making it their own. Butchery is now a hotbed of innovation, some of it driven by the very people who have been recognised over the years at our prizegiving.’

‘It’s also becoming ‘cool’ to be a butcher, whatever your age, gender, or background. Butchers are increasingly being recognised as artisan craftspeople. Who’d have thought it?’

In addition to the apprentice awards, seven accomplished butchers were also granted their Institute of Meat Master Butcher accreditation (MB.Inst.M) today. These butchers received their IoM Master Butcher certificates of accreditation from Bill Jermey, Chairman of the IoM, who said,

‘I’m delighted to see these talented butchers join the prestigious ranks of Institute of Meat Master Butchers. Every year we receive a number of applications. Not all make it; the assessment process is by intention rigorous, so they have done very well indeed and are a credit to the industry. They demonstrate real mastery of the art, from field to fork.’

IoM accredited Master Butchers 2024

Simon Taylor (MB.Inst.M)	Surrey Hills Butchers
Jason Hilliard (MB.Inst.M)	ABP Beef
Nicholas Davies (MB.Inst.M)	ABP Beef
Joseph O’Sullivan (MB.inst.M)	Booker Group
Steven Russell (MB.Inst.M)	Booker Group
Jason Robinson (MB.Inst.M)	Booker Group
Philip Turpin (MB.Inst.M)	Asda

The final award given on the day was to Danny Upson, Retail Butchery Sales Director, Dalziel Ltd, who was awarded a Fellowship of the Institute of Meat for services to the meat industry.

For more information about the prizegiving or how to nominate an apprentice, please contact Sheryl Horne at the Institute of Meat, info@instituteofmeat.org