Young butchers are being given the chance to get themselves declared the UK's 'Chop Idol' with the launch of a new television-based competition.

County food group Hampshire Fare is urging shoppers to encourage their local independent butcher to enter this year's The Great Hampshire Sausage, Pie & Ready Meal Competition.

A butchery business has teamed up with a top-class chef to offer customers the chance to take part in a special meat masterclass.

Butchery champion Gareth Cole successfully defended his title as the most creative young butcher in Wales at the Royal Welsh Winter Fair at Builth Wells this week.

Workplace hazards can be costly for small firms, so it's vital that butchers know the score and are covered for all eventualities. Here's how to play it safe

Aubrey Allen recently held a celebration to mark its 75th anniversary at its Leamington Spa butchers and delicatessen.

A Midlands-based butcher is celebrating after landing the contract to manage the meat department of Selfridges in London.

The search is on to find the most creative young butcher in Wales.

A Midlands butcher has been forced to close up by the official receiver, just days before he was due to receive a national award.

A Tyneside food store is one of a handful of outlets in the region to be awarded top honours in a new food safety scheme.

Butchers in France are fighting legislation which could see greater power handed to the supermarkets.

Collagen suffers from the perception that it is artificial, but while it may be the result of a man-made process, the product is still created from natural protein.

Terry Snow, owner of The Meat Shop Wolverhampton, has won a competition run by EBLEX and his meat supplier Weddel Swift.

Robert Rawlings was celebrating success at the final Bpex regional roadshow, held in the South of England.

John Mettrick of J W Mettrick & Son Ltd has scooped the award for the best fresh meat in the North West with a goat product.

Hog roast equipment specialist Spitting Pig has made transporting complete hog/spit equipment even easier with the launch of a purpose- built trailer.

The Meat Training Council (MTC) celebrated the best in the food industry, at its annual prize-giving ceremony at Butchers' Hall recently.

MTJ has launched a new website to help boost butchers during National Butchers' Week.

For those butchers seeking to add a new look to their shops during National Butchers' Week, we have a great offer for you.

A Hampshire free range pig farmer is celebrating after taking a top title for his sausages.

Staff at John Tudor & Son, the butcher at the heart of 2005's fatal E.coli outbreak, turned up to work with stomach bugs, an public inquiry heard.

A public inquiry into the 2005 E.coli outbreak that left a five-year-old boy dead is underway.

Butchers from all over the UK are backing the idea of National Butchers' Week, the promotion initiative being organised by MTJ from 10-16 March.

Celebrity butcher John Mettrick has thrown his weight behind Meat Trade Journal's National Butchers' Week.

Meat Trades Journal is launching a week of activity aimed at encouraging consumers to get back into their local butcher's shop.

A firm of family butchers has closed a Black Country shop after more than three decades of business.

Over 8,000 entries were received in a 'Great Big Lamb' competition designed to help independent retailers boost sales of lamb this autumn, making this one of the most popular competitions organised by EBLEX for this sector.

Irish butchers have welcomed the announcement by their government of a new grant scheme which will benefit small abattoirs and local processors.

BPEX's new guide to pork cuts has been launched to help consumers make the most of their pork.

A butcher helped push prices to a record high of £6,500 at the 2007 Aberdeen Christmas Classic this week.

Prices reached a record high at the 2007 Scotch Premier Meat Ltd Christmas Carcase Show on Monday with the supreme champion fetching £5,200.

A young trainee butcher from Neath proved he was a cut above the rest by winning a national contest at the Royal Welsh Winter Fair.

Plans are forging ahead for the 2007 Christmas carcase show at Scotch Premier Meat Ltd in Inverurie next week.

Louis Steakhouse in Alnwick is throwing down the gauntlet to big steak buffs.

Buckwells of Southsea was celebrating this week after taking home the overall supreme title in this year's Smithfield Awards.

Over 80 products battled it out to be crowned the best sausage and pie from across Berkshire and Oxfordshire at the 2007 Two Counties Sausage and Pie Champion Challenge, held at The Swan at Streatley hotel.

A family-run meat supplier is celebrating after being named Small Producer of the Year at the annual Deliciouslyorkshire Awards.

A 15-year-old boy lost an arm after a guard was removed from a mincer at a Lancashire butchers, a court heard.

Glasgow's gourmets will have the chance to see some of the world's greatest chefs cooking some of the world's best red meat this weekend, and then can buy some for themselves.

Customers of butchers shops and farm shops across the country are being invited to tuck-in to tasty, sumptuous beef and lamb treats this autumn and winter with the free Tuck-in recipe booklet from the English Beef and Lamb Executive (EBLEX).

Wanstead's last remaining butcher has won the Wanstead Society Shopkeeper of the Year Award.

A Q-Guild butcher whose shop came under attack from the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) has warned that other North Yorkshire butchers may be at risk.

A traditional homemade black pudding stole the show at the latest Product Evaluation Event and Regional Roadshow for butchers, which took place in Dawlish, Devon, last month.

Butchers from far and wide took a trip to Essex last month to take part in an innovative seasonal trade fair organised by wholesale supplier SauceIt.

Butchers from across the UK will be cooking up a storm in London next week as they bid to take home the title of best sausage in the UK.

The best young butchers in Wales will have a chance to demonstrate their skills at this year's Royal Welsh Winter Fair in Builth Wells in November.

Mick Starr is a butcher from Emsworth in Hampshire. Over the weekend of 14-16 September, some 55,000 people descended on the village for the Emsworth Food Festival, which has grown enormously since its inception in 2001. He reflects on the benefits a

Islington butcher Chris Godfrey is content with his lot, derived from a pride in the work he does. Chloe Smith met him

Harry Coates is a butcher from Durham. The last piece of equipment he bought was a Thompson 900E mixer-grinder, which has saved shop staff considerable labour.

Whether it's a classic pork sausage or something a little more unusual, once a sausage has lifted a competition trophy most butchers say the same thing: a winning product does wonders for their sales.

Simon Haigh of Hinchliffe's Butchers, part of a farm shop in Huddersfield, was one of the butchers that won our last Champion of Champions sausage competition. Here he explains the effect the award had on his business

For one butcher in the Republic of Ireland, an influx of people from different parts of the world has helped transform his sausage range and boost his business.

Castleton House Hotel and Angus Organics have launched a series of one day butchery masterclasses covering all aspects of meat preparation from rearing and butchery, through to grading, preparation and cooking.

Independent family butcher C Lidgate has scooped the coveted British Turkey Butcher of the Year title.

A butcher in Wales has been sentenced to a year in prison after pleading guilty to seven offences relating to an outbreak of E.coli in 2005.

The Autumn & Christmas Collection of Meat Ideas is taking place this Monday and is open to all butchers looking pick up some useful tips and advice.

A £3m food hall, bar and restaurant championing the very best 'proper' regional food and drink is due to open in Hockley Heath, Warwickshire, on 12 September.

A butcher is hoping for success with the launch of a Welsh lamb equivalent of Parma ham.

Independent butchers are being invited to take part in a trade show to check out the latest offerings from a range of industry suppliers.

Richard Lochhead, the Scottish Executive's cabinet secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment swapped the front bench for the butcher's counter to show his support for Scottish farmers recently.

Butchers are being given an extra week's grace to be in with a chance of being declared the UK's best butcher.

Yorkshire Dales Meat has crowned a record-breaking six months by winning a contract to supply Costcutter supermarkets across the county.

Irish butchers have hit out at consumer leaders for what they describe as "sabotaging" their businesses.

Irish butchers have hit out at consumer leaders for what they describe as "sabotaging" their businesses.

Mole Valley Farmers, the UK's largest farming co-operative, has launched an online shop.

Tesco has given a boost to the Welsh food industry this week with the announcement that all bacon and sausage sold on its counters in Wales will be sourced from Wales.

Nine National Association of Catering Butchers' (NACB) members have taken advantage of the Red Meat Industry Forum's (RMIF) diagnostic tool, In-Site, to help improve their businesses.

An eco-friendly food hall and gastropub is seeking like minded beef, lamb, pork and poultry suppliers.

A Bromley butcher who was subject to a dramtatic robbery is hoping that Crimewatch will help catch the theives.

Around 40 chefs from pubs and restaurants across North West England paid a visit to Althams Catering Butchers recently, to find out more about Althams Quality Assured (AQA) beef and lamb.

A highly successful Pembrokeshire farming family, who have boosted their profits by selling organic home reared meat direct to the public, are now preparing to launch an upgraded website and open an organic farm shop.

An industry-wide search to find 'St George's Day Heroes' as part of a promotion to drive sales of Quality Standard beef has found its winners.

The presidency of the International Butchers Confederation (IBC) will hold its first ever meeting in Ireland today (28 June) at the premises of Bord Bia.

A South Wales butcher has pleaded not guilty in court to charges in connection with a major e coli outbreak in 2005 which left one boy dead and 160 people in hospital.

Two Irish butcher brothers have been crowned Craftbutcher Supreme Champions for the third time since 2001.

Butchers are being urged to get ready for this year's Butcher's Shop of the Year. The awards are on their way, and independent retailers should keep their eyes open for further details.

A South West butchers' shop has taken top prize at the BPEX Excellence in British Meat Products Roadshow Championships.

Pig bosses have taken a group of catering butchers on a tour of a pig unit to see first-hand how free-range pigs are produced and learn the benefits of supplying premium-assured pork to customers.

A butcher is claiming victory after town bosses agreed to review the staging of a continental market near his premises.

A Scottish butcher is hoping to tap into his country's love of Iron Brew with a new, and unusual, sausage offer.

A Yorkshire butcher's, which closed following an E.coli outbreak, has re-opened its doors to trade.

Saint George's Day was celebrated in style at Churchill's Food Emporium, Liverpool, on Saturday (21 April).

A leading manufacturer of marinades, glazes, seasonings, coatings and sauces is targeting butchers a with a half price promotion.

Meat bosses were celebrating after the final leg of the BPEX Regional Roadshow and Product Evaluation Events ended on a notable high.

A Denbighshire butcher has won a category award for high quality meat products for the second year running at a prestigious north Wales butchers awards organised by Hybu Cig Cymru or Meat Promotion Wales (HCC).

British Turkey's high profile campaign spearheaded by TV chef Phil Vickery and engaging other celebrity chefs and sporting heroes - aims to raise awareness that turkey is just as essential for year-round eating as it is for Christmas.

It was a matter of first time lucky for one Ardudwy butcher recently when he scooped the prize for the best sausage in north Wales at his first attempt.

A total of 39 gold awards have been scooped by five Conwy butchers for their high quality meat products at a prestigious north Wales butchers awards organised by Hybu Cig Cymru (HCC) Meat Promotion Wales.

A tapenade containing Scotch Beef has won gold at The Netherlands' top butcher competition.

The industry's leading charity, the Butchers & Drover's Charitable Institution, celebrated a record year of success, as festival chairman Richard Cracknell handed the baton over to Dennis Clark.

There is something about cooking in front of an open fire that seems to bring out the pig in all of us. Chloe Smith reports

A north-east based butcher and vice chairman of the Guild of Q Butchers won Best International Product for his Highland lamb fillet wrap at the recent Eurobeef Trade Competitions which were part of Meat and Fresh Expo 2007 at Kortrijk in Belgium earl

A new beef mince poster campaign has been launched in butcher shops across Northern Ireland this week by the Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC) to boost recognition of the Northern Ireland Farm Quality Assurance Scheme (FQAS) logo.

Welsh butchers will soon have the chance to battle it out in the Innovation and Excellence in Meat Products awards, held each year by Hybu Cig Cymru or Meat Promotion Wales (HCC).

The Prince of Wales has given his approval to a butcher's treasured ham recipe, by ordering 200 slices for a party.

Butcher Shop of the Year winner, Simon Howie, will no longer operate butcher counters in Scottish Sainsbury's stores and the Simon Howie brand will be stripped from on pack labels with the possible exception of some manufactured goods.

A Bletchley-based butcher has received a good response after placing an ad in the local paper asking for people to supply him with dead wild rabbits as he can not keep up with customer demand.

A recent BPEX regional roadshow and product evaluation event for butchers saw a dad and his fourteen-year-old daughter both walk away as category champions.

Three men have been fined thousands of pounds for selling poultry unfit for human consumption.

A lamb ready-meal that won the overall supreme prize at the Guild of Q Butchers 2006 Smithfield Awards has been distributed to all 160 Q Guild butchers so they can share the success.

A special beefburger recipe devised for the Guild of Q Butchers by celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson will soon be available to Q butchers throughout the UK to sell in their shops.

Caterers in the south of England can now order quality assured, Southern Pride premium beef, lamb and pork following the recent launch of a new brand from Portsmouth based Solent Butchers.

A small family run butcher's shop in Northumberland has found itself gaining national recognition for its marketing and professional skills.

A London butcher has been fined £2,500 with costs for keeping his shop in a "filthy" condition.

A Lancashire butcher turned restaurateur has won a competition for his Cumberland sausage, shaking up the North-West by taking the title outside Cumbria for the first time.

A healthy eating supply partnership between award-winning Wilsons Butchers in Crossgates, Leeds, and the city's Templenewsam Halton Primary School is going down a real treat among pupils.

A group of top butchers have paid a visit to Aberdeenshire to find out more about Scotland's beef lamb and pork.

Magistrates have banned a Kent farmer from keeping animals for five years for causing unnecessary suffering to cattle and poultry at his farm in Halstead.

A Worcestershire butchers has been fined £8,000 after being found guilty of selling underweight meat.

The German Butchers' Association (DFV) is holding its first sausage competition to be staged at the upcoming IFFA exhibition in Frankfurt which will judge handmade products from Germany and abroad.

Scottish butcher Simon Howie has won a contract to supply a selection of products to Tesco counters in 65 stores in Scotland.

A Yorkshire butcher is shutting up shop after 44 years in business. Ken Walker, 76, is closing Walkers of Pannal next Saturday after a lifetime in butchery.

A Kington-based butcher who is about to celebrate 25 years in business has scooped first prize in both the Breakfast and Speciality categories in the Herefordshire round of the sixth West Midlands Tastiest Sausage Competition.

A photographic scene of a butcher's shop was re-created 100 years on to help celebrate the 150th anniversary of Taylor's Butcher's in Cheshire.

West Country butcher Gerald David has bought a quartet of award-winning beef cattle for his five Somerset and Devon shops, at a cost of more than £17,000.

Half price meat and poultry products will feature for one day only as part of the annual Freezer Fill Friday at butcher's shop Farmers Fayre, in Kenilworth, on Friday (12 January).

Nineteen-year-old Rhian Wynn Owen proved she was a cut above the rest by winning an inaugural competition to find the most creative young butcher in Wales.

Butcher and baker RT Stuart of Buckhaven in Fife has won the 2006 World Scotch Pie Championship.

Training need not be dull and can even be exotic. Ed Bedington reports on a special course for English butchers... in Denmark

England's best beefburger has been revealed following a nationwide search.

Double helpings of champion beef could be rivalling the traditional turkey in West Yorkshire on 25 December after the two winning entries at local Christmas livestock shows were both bought by Keelham Hall Farm Shop at Thornton, Bradford.

The next edition of Who's Who in Meat will be available in February 2007, and publishers William Reed are offering a 10% discount for those ordering copies before 31st January 2007.

Wiltshire College Lackham produced the winning rib of beef and crowned the supreme champion in a competition held at last week's Royal Smithfield Christmas fair.

Specialist catering butcher Direct Meats has announced its acquisition of Kone Vale Produce of Suffolk, which produces high-quality portioned poultry products.

An evil kidnapper demands money for safe return of stall owner's 'PERCY'

The Livestock and Meat Commission for Northern Ireland has been encouraging butchers' shops in Northern Ireland to promote lamb this Christmas with a delivery of enticing and colorful posters.

The E.coli case against John Tudor & Sons butcher shop has suffered yet another adjournment.

The winners of the Meat Industry Awards 2006 were announced yesterday (30 November) at a glittering dinner at the Sheraton Park Lane Hotel London.

Jamie Chapman was appointed SFMTA president at its AGM held on Sunday (26 November).

A Scottish butcher, who won MTJ Extra's Butcher's Shop of the Year Award earlier this month, has drawn a lot of new customers to his shops following his win.

The twelve days of Christmas is the theme of the Hybu Cig Cymru - Meat promotion Wales' new Christmas season recipe book.

The case against butcher John Tudor and Sons in Bridgend, which was at the centre of an inquiry last year into an E.coli outbreak in South Wales, has been adjourned.

A Minty Lamb Bake from Dennis of Bexley, Kent, was flavour of the day when it took the supreme prize at the Guild of Q Butchers' 2006 Smithfield Awards.

It is not every day that Royalty pop to your shop but Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall made a private visit to Rothbury Family Butchers in Rothbury, Northumberland, last Friday.

Butcher puts street cred on the line in latest rescue attempt.

A recent visit by Dutch butcher's group Keurslager has been hailed a success by the Scottish Federation of Meat Traders Association (SFTMA).

A butcher says he is facing closure because a neighbouring greengrocer's shop shut down.

A butcher in Little Common, Bexhill, is joining traders and residents in opposing plans for the building of a Tesco in the Sussex village.

A Scottish butcher is helping small independent traders to get their products on supermarket shelves.

Break out the buns and get in the olives. Yes, if butchers want to survive in the 21st century they need to diversify. Chloe Smith looks at some of the options open to the High Street butcher

A Scottish butcher is celebrating after being crowned the best butcher in Britain following a glittering awards ceremony at Claridges, London, yesterday.

This year's Butchers' and Drovers' Charitable Institution annual dinner attracted 900 guests making it a record breaking year for organisers of the event.

Butchers' favourite customer quotes:

The Guild of Q Butchers has reported this year's entries for the Product Evaluation of the 2006 Smithfield Awards are into record figures.

We watched with great sadness in October as Coronation Street and Great Britain lost its most famous butcher.

Brindon Addy

Aubrey Allen's Warwickshire Whizzer sausage is to make an appearance on television after it won a competition on the BBC show Jimmy's Farm.

The best young butchers in Wales are being given the chance to shine as part of a new contest at this year's Royal Welsh Winter Fair in Builth Wells this month.

Butchers in the mid-west have been celebrating after winning 77 gold awards from the BPEX's second product evaluation event of the season.

Hundreds of hours of recorded memories of the meat trade have been deposited in the British Library's sound archive collection as part of a wider project looking at the history of the food industry.

A healthier sausage specifically designed to have a lower salt level has won top prize in a competition run by the British Pig Executive (BPEX).

A halal butcher has been found guilty by Croydon magistrates of providing false details and selling short measures to customers.

Tickets for the BDCI Festival Dinner are selling well, but there is still time to get yours.

Specialist sausage manufacturer Graham White & Co has recently gained its A grade BRC higher level accreditation.

The Worshipful Company of Butchers should be specially proud of its 'hands on' approach in helping to create a whole new national education and training environment for the meat industry, liverymen attending the Company's annual meeting - Common Hall

Meat South West has announced the appointment of new board members following its recent annual general meeting and conference.

Butchers across Yorkshire are being urged to enter the 2006 Great Yorkshire Pork Pie, Sausage & Products Competition.

A 15-year-old boy has lost an arm following an accident at a butcher's shop in Oldham, Greater Manchester.

Summer can be the season of slow trade for butcher's shops, as holiday-makers pack their bags and meal-time thoughts turn from roasts to salads.

He might be a simple butcher in the sleepy town of Wiveliscombe, but Mike Thorne woke up one morning to find himself on a par with Bloomingdales in New York and Selfridges in London. Fred A'Court travels to Somerset

How to make the perfect pork.

Chloe Smith travels far afield

to meet Mark Carr and his champion pie-maker, Zoe Ball

Welsh Assembly ministers have been told to back their words with action and support a new farm co-operative's bid to buy a North Wales abattoir.

Butchers in the north west of England are reaping the rewards of selling a local brand of beef.

An award winning burger recipe, specially designed by celebrity chef Anthony Worrall Thompson, is to be made available to Guild of Q butchers.

The oraganic argument.

Metal detection and separation plays an important role in food production, and effective equipment keeps both food and the manfacturer's reputation safe.

A pie manufacturer is celebrating after scooping a top regional award from consumers.

The Leeds butcher's shop at the centre of an E coli food poisoning outbreak is still closed to the public.

A former milkman is celebrating after waking up to discover that he is the best butcher in the world.

Flanagan's Butchers in Crawley, West Sussex

A butcher's shop can be a dangerous place. In a bustling environment full of knives, busy butchers and queues of customers, accidents can happen.

aul Kendall always found it difficult to make enough burgers.

A new smoking chamber has been launched, aimed at butcher's shops and small restaurants and processors. It can be used for smoking meat, fish and cheese.

Butchers from north and south Wales went head-to-head at the Royal Welsh Show to battle for the title of All Wales champion across 12 product categories.

ears have been expressed that the meat industry could lose training resources in Scotland after Scottish Enterprise overspent its budget.

The very concept of organic meat suggests it should be available from all local butchers.

A West Yorkshire butcher is looking to break into a brand-new market with the launch of an unusual product range, featuring a three-tier pork-pie wedding cake.

Supermarkets are the traditional enemy of the independent butcher.

eith Clark has found a novel way of attracting customers into the butcher's shop he owns with his elder brother Barry.

eraldine Durrant, from West Sussex, attributes her confidence in cooking meat and poultry to a former independent travelling butcher.

ears for the livelihoods of independent butchers' shops in a small Scottish town following the arrival of two supermarket chains may yet prove unfounded.

Consumers are tucking into more pork, but Alyson Magee asks if cheap imports are playing into the multiples' hands

From horse and cart to refrigerated vans, the Dyes' business has been developing over four generations, discovers Ed Bedington

Wiltshire butcher Graham Burroughs has come up with a novel way to compete with the French market that comes to town every six weeks.

Scottish butchers are being urged to take part in National Scottish Pie week, which will run from 25 November to 2 December.

Traditional independent butchers and other retailers that started up business in the UK over the last 10 years are in steep decline, having peaked in 2003 according to a survey.

When Anthony Dalzell found out Wokingham town centre was to undergo a £45m facelift, he decided his butcher's shop needed sprucing up a bit.

Mark Carr, and his pie-making master Zoe Ball, are two aficionados of the pork pie, while the Scots are scouring the country to Identify the best product in Scotland.

Brought to the Journal's attention by one satisfied customer, Ken Hammond & Sons of Chiswick appear to have no shortage of admirers. During our visit to the shop, one customer volunteered: "It is absolutely superb."

Redevelopment of Butchers' and Drovers' Charitable Institution's Smoothfield Homes is well underway following planning permission go-ahead and the sale of the site.

Pleased to Meet You - Meat to Please You!

A Europe without borders is creating job opportunities for those outside the UK looking for work, and for UK employers looking for a willing pair of hands

The Midlands boasts a vibrant meat industry from traditional breed producers to a thriving processing and retail sector.

NO FRILLS, old-school butchery, using quality British meat, has kept G Russell of Datchet, Berkshire, in business for 27 years.

CONDIMENTS HAVE become a popular addition to the butcher shop deli, according to leading UK deli wholesaler Claire Jones of Deli28 based in Bristol.

RATHER THAN taking business away from local butchers, a Surrey-based businesswoman, who has set up a delicatessen and farm shop in her pub, claims her company is helping to drive the business of her independent meat suppliers.

Champion sausage maker Craig Rollinson tells Keren Sall his winning formula which keeps buyers coming back for more.

WITH SCOTCH beef and lamb as its flagship products and a number of innovative companies proving profits are there to be made, the Scottish meat sector is meeting prevailing challenges head on.

BROWNS FOOD Group has launched its new brand, Tarbert Fyne Foods, a Scottish brand of high quality cooked meats sourced from the finest Scottish beef and pork.

IDENTIFYING AND targeting sectors ripe for growth has proved a successful strategy for one Scottish company, now boasting an annual turnover of £44 million.

SCOTLAND'S TOP SUMMER attraction, The Royal Highland Show (RHS) and one of the UK premier's agricultural shows features a range of attractions and trade stands as well as showcasing more than 5,000 of the best cattle, sheep, horses and goats in the

Confusion still reigns over whether butchers can advise consumers the organic meat they are buying is organic, unless they are independently inspected by an approved certification body.

A butchers in Scotland has closed temporaily while an E coli outbreak is investigated. J & H Cairns of Law, Lanarkshire, has closed voluntarily while health officials investigate the outbreak.

In recognition of their recent butchery success a north west butcher asked Huddersfield Giants rugby league player Chris Nero to unveil a new stone sculpture outside his shop.

Welcome to this, the first ever edition of MTJ Extra, the new magazine from the Meat Trades Journal that is aimed directly at the independent retail butcher and farm-shop operators.

A group of butchers from Birmingham had a brush with fame last week as they made an appearance on Channel 4's The F-Word with celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay.

Liam Kirk, a 17-year-old apprenctice butcher, has won a national barbecue competition with two innovative and tasty products.

The future of one of London's most famous butcher's shop has been secured following the collapse of its owner, CST Wholesale.

For the first time in the UK, under the title of "Licence to Grill" RAPS is launching a promotional campaign for retail butchers.

CATERING BUTCHERS, Browns Food Service, will open a state of the art £1.5m meat and poultry factory in Rugby on 3 June boasting many of the technological advances being made in the industry.

THE BENEFITS of designing a company website and selling meat on the internet were presented to members of the London Retail Meat Traders Association (LRMTA) and guests.

THE OWNER of an organic shop in Chelsea said he knows of a number of butchers in the London area who are passing off fake organic meat as the genuine article.

Britain's appetite for a good barbecue, and the growing involvement of women, looks set to fuel a market boom for the next five years.

RATTLESNAKE IS the latest addition to the menu at Bourne's in New Romney, Kent. That's because the owner, Dave Bourne, likes to offer his customers a little something different every now and again.

SHADOW AGRICULTURE Minister Jim Paice has called on the government to minimise the impact on butchers of new regulations requiring the removal of vertebral column from cattle carcases over 24 months old.

Some independent butchers are allegedly selling conventional meat as organic produce.

An outbreak of disagreements between retailers and livestock producers could threaten beef's fragile comeback

Has all the makings of a beautiful summer

THERE'S a queue snaking outside Canham butchers most weekends, but the shop hasn't always been as popular - 10 years ago, owner Paul Canham doubted whether the business would last much longer

North-East members of the Guild of Q Butchers held their annual clay pigeon shoot at Coniston Hall near Skipton.

Butcher Frank Dean, has maintained traditions and standards over the years to establish a business that has survived the ravages of the trade for three decades.

A FOOD distributor is extending its offering to butchers and meat traders by taking on the distribution for Couzin Jacks Biltong Beefsnack

Meat can put the spark back

HER MAJESTY The Queen was not the only one celebrating 80 years of service to the nation last week.

One-third of consumers is so overwhelmed by the choice in supermarkets that they prefer to shop at their local butchers.

BUTCHERS IN Scotland have until 8 May to submit their product ideas for the Scottish Federation of Meat Traders Association's annual Sausage and Pudding competition.

USING BUTCHERY skills in a competitive environment gives young staff the opportunity to measure themselves against fellow competitors, say the organisers of a Scottish meat skills competition.

OVER HALF of the remaining 95 Dewhurst shops taken into administration after the chain's collapse have been snapped up.According to restructuring ?rm and administrator BDO Stoy Hayward LLP.

FORMER TOP Shop Scotland butcher Michael Sheridan has died at the age of 67.

A NEW 24-page supply chain information booklet, A Taste for Marketing Mutton, has been published by Mutton Renaissance in partnership with Defra.

An Oxford Butcher who dumped wastee meat into a neighbours garden ended up being fined £700. Alias Hussain of Pak Halal, Cowley, was caught out when health officers investigating complaints decided to look inside the store.

DEWHURST'S MAIN distributor and supplier of beef, lamb, pork and poultry is £750,000 out of pocket follow-ing the retail chain's collapse.

A NEW Scottish brand of high quality cooked meats called Tarbert Fyne Foods has been launched by Browns Food Group

Moving into James Elliott's in Essex Road, Islington, north London, is another step in a remarkable revival of independent trading by entrepreneur butcher of 42 years, Philip Walsh.

Butchers who trade on the provenance of the Tamworth traditional pig breed may like to thank the Wheatley-Hubbard family, who are credited by many for saving it from extinction.

Delboy's Reliant Robin van was a star attraction at Berkhamsted butcher Joe Collier's charity night which raised £10,000 for a children's hospice.

BUTCHERS ARE among the happiest workers in the UK, according to the City and Guilds Happiness Index, which is compiled annually to track the satisfaction of the country's workforce.

Cranstons of Cumbria stole the show at the 2006 Guild of Q Butchers National Barbecue Championships and Product Evaluation.

A FAMILY-owned wholesale butchers in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, is launching the Three Dales brand for independent butchers to promote locally produced beef, pork and lamb.

A FORTNIGHT on after winning The Champion of Champions' award, Craig Rollinson of Hinchliffe's Farm shop in Huddersfield says sales of his prize-winning pork, mature cheddar and chive sausage have doubled

Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) has clearly identified France, the Benelux countries and Italy as the top priority markets in its bid to re-build Scotland's red meat exports.

A NOTTINGHAM butcher has been fined almost £5,000 after rotting meat was discovered dumped outside his store.

A NORTH East-based butcher's firm, which had an annual turnover of £5 million, has gone into administration but its management has saved 70 jobs by buying the retail arm of the business.

Hundreds of Dewhurst staff are still waiting to discover their fate after the chain went into administration last week.

Sixty butchers shops closed earlier this week with a loss of hundreds of jobs after the Dewhurst chain went into adminstration on Monday.

WITH NO English contestant available to participate in last week's Young Butcher Competition at Foodex Meatex it was left to those from Scoland, Wales and Northern Ireland to put on a show for visitors.

More successful than ever, Foodex Meatex attracted over 16,800 visitors this year, 20 per cent up on the show two years ago.

BRITAIN'S BEST butchers will be battling it out for barbecue product status in South Wales at the Guild of Q Butchers 2006 National Barbecue Championships this Sunday, April 2.

Independents' Day at a revitalised Foodex Meatex proved to be a roaring success for visiting butchers.

A RECORD 280 product entries were submitted by independent butchers at the heats of this year's north Wales Hybu Cig Cymru / Meat Promotion Wales (HCC) annual awards for butchers.

Defra gets £500,000 to deliver on Government's food strategy

THE ANNOUNCEMENT that big supermarkets are not to open for more than six hours on Sundays has not been received with the welcome relief some may have expected from independent butchers.

What is the dream of every Cambridge University scientist? To become a butcher of course, that is, if one takes the example of Jon West, a molecular biologist for 12 years at one of the world's prestigious seats of learning.

A NEW home delivery service taking fresh meat produce as well as other groceries to the doorstep of customers in North Yorkshire has been boosted with the help of a £26,000 grant from Defra's Rural Enterprise Scheme.

Sheepdrove Organic Farm's new butchery manager Stuart Minick is aiming to use his new role to expand the range of products and cutting techniques to the butchery line.

BPEX EVALUATION EVENT

ANOTHER FARMING FAMILY GOES IT ALONE

MORE THAN 80 independent butchers and other retailers have met week in Cornwall to discuss methods of ensuring the future success of the meat industry in the face of increasing competition from large supermarkets.

FOURTH GENERATION family butcher Antony Coates knows his customers well and what keeps them coming back to his shop.

Less than three years after almost quadrupling the size of its Perthshire production hub to 40,000 sq ft, Simon Howie Foods (SHF) is now planning to add a further 10,000 sq ft of filling and packaging space within the next six months.

With the export market for beef set to re-open this year, the meat industry is hoping to make inroads in rebuilding its business at this year's Alimentaria trade fair (March 6-10) in Barcelona.

Cornwall butcher, Charles Gould, believes he has found the recipe to successful trading for small businesses

Manager from Dewhurst Butchers reconnected with the supply chain during a series of special 'Supply Chain and Meat Quality Conferences' where they learnt about the vital role of the farmers in producing EBLEX Quality Standards beef and lamb.

THE SOUTH WALES business at the heart of the E coli outbreak in South Wales last year has closed its doors for the final time. John Tudor & Son of Bridgend, which supplies meat to more than 40 schools in the area, has laid off all staff.

CUSTOMERS OF Oxfordshire catering butchers Alden can keep a close eye on their orders now that the company allows them to connect to the company's CCTV system to watch preparation, packing and despatch.

A BATTLE of the Butchers competition is set to test the innovative flair of independent traders all over Wales in a Hybu Cig Cymru/ Meat Promotion Wales (HCC) organised event.

If there is a ruling that gives the Cornish Pasty Protected Geographic Indicator (PGI) status, butchers and manufacturers outside the country will have to rename the product.

MANAGERS FROM Dewhurst Butchers reconnected with the supply chain during a series of special 'Supply Chain and Meat Quality Conferences' where they learnt about the vital role farmers play in producing EBLEX Quality Standard beef and lamb.

INDEPENDENT BUTCHERS and farm shops are being offered a preferential discount if they sign up to join a pressure group, the Federation of Private Businesses (FPB).

Scottish butchers reported a sales boost of 14 per cent according to TNS.

A MIDLAND'S butcher triumphed at the recent Guild of Q Butchers' Smithfield Awards 2005 by taking home a host of awards in recognition of product excellence.

GORDON HEPBURN, a towering influence at the Guild of Q Butchers for the past 20 years, received a standing ovation as he was presented with a special award for his sterling work.

A YORKSHIRE butcher is enjoying increased pork pie sales which have soared by over 50 per cent since winning a major award last year.

In the 12 months to January 1, household consumption of beef, lamb and pork in Great Britain increased, according to a survey conducted by the Meat and Livestock Commission. Household consumption of poultry meat also rose over this period.

The British Pig Executive (BPEX) was inundated with entries into its Product Evaluation Event at the North West Regional Roadshow for butchers.

A number of barriers will have to be overcome if exporters are to sell British beef into the French market once the export ban is lifted, according to the MLC's export manager in Paris, Remi Fourrier.

Quality Meat Scotland is helping Scotland's independent butchers gear up for what traditionally is their busiest time of the year with a series of mouth-watering posters and calendars featuring seasonal Scottish recipes for beef, lamb and pork.

Crombies of Edinburgh are the first in butchers Britain to be audited to the new standards now applying to membership of the prestigious Guild of Q Butchers.

Sales of sausages reached a new high following the most successful British Sausage Week ever, according to latest market data from TNS Superpanel.