Revealed – Team GB Apprentices and Young Butchers to compete in World Butchers Challenge

In celebration of National Apprenticeships Week, the Team GB Butchery board are thrilled to announce the butchers selected to compete in the World Champion Butcher Apprentice and Young Butcher competitions at the World Butchers Challenge (WBC) in Paris on 30-31st March.
Representing the United Kingdom by category are:

World Champion Butcher Apprentice:

Connor Ringrose: Connor (23) is a third-generation apprentice butcher working with his uncle in the family business, Ringrose Butchers, in Leicestershire. In his words, Connor is brimming with ‘youth, energy and inspiration’ and is ‘buzzing to be a part of this.’
Ben Megahy: Ben (22) hails from Perth where he works with his father, also a butcher, at Simon Howie Butchers. He says he’s ‘ready to take his development to the next level by competing in the World Butchers Challenge.’

Young Butcher:

Kirsty Neil: Kirsty (24) is already assistant manager of the largest of the six Scott Brothers shops on Strathmartine Road in Dundee. Now counting down the days till the WBC Kirsty says she is ‘super excited’ about the challenge ahead.
Henry Curd: aka ‘Butcher Curd’ (31) is head butcher and butchery manager for Paley Farm, a pasture for life farm and butchery in Kent. Having grown up on a farm Henry says he’s aiming to tell the farm to fork story in his product display.

Supporting the team as a reserve will be Mia Tamburrini (22), owner of private butchery business ‘Raise the Steaks’ and 2023 Champion Meat Apprentice in the Institute of Meat and Worshipful Company of Butcher’s Annual Prizegiving.

Modelled on the core WBC competition both groups of butchers will have just two hours and thirty minutes to break down a range of primal cuts into a display of pre-determined products and their own creations.

After several months of arduous training the decision as to who made the final cut was down to the Team GB Butchery board. UK Lions Team Manager, Simon Taylor shared the news with the UK Lions Squad after their most recent training session on 20/21st January at Plumpton College butchery training centre.

Taylor, ex Captain of Team GB and an Institute of Meat accredited Master Butcher, said of the selection,
‘What a talented bunch of young butchers we now have to represent their country at World Butchers Challenge. Working in a range of different businesses and coming from different backgrounds they each bring something different to the team. What they have in common is their work ethic and commitment to the UK Lions Squad. Competing in Paris isn’t just an opportunity for them to make their first mark on the world stage but also to learn and be inspired by the best of the best across the globe’

Member of Team GB Board Keith Fisher, fourth generation Master Butcher and CEO of the Institute of Meat, attended the training session and added,
‘We’re all happy that we’ve got the right people for the team, though the standard throughout the UK Lions Squad is phenomenal so it wasn’t an easy decision. Of course, there’s still work to do but the most important attribute is having the right attitude – without a doubt they all have that.’