Former Top Shop winner passes away

The Aberdeenshire butcher won the top accolade in the prestigious Meat Trades Journal-organised Awards in 2001 for the superb range of meats on sale at his Ballater shop.

He was also praised for his involvement in the local community. He died last Tuesday having undergone a heart bypass operation - although he did manage to defy the odds and returned to work for a while!

Apart from his spell on national service, Mike spent all his life in Ballater, and was involved in many local activities and organisations. His shop had held a Royal Warrant for the late Queen Mother since 1981 and for Her Majesty the Queen and the Prince of Wales since 1987.

When the Royal family was in residence at Balmoral, it was his business that supplied meat and he was proud of the fact that he had developed a venison pie for the Duke of Edinburgh and that the Princess Royal visited the shop to buy meat.

Being in the heart of some of the best Scottish countryside, game was a big seller and he developed a thriving mail order business. Meat Trades Journal advisor Fred A'Court said: "Mike was a modest person but there was nothing modest about what he achieved. The quality of his meat and other produce he sold, and the high regard with which he was held within his local commu-nity, were a credit to the hard work he and his staff put in."

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