Premier Young Butcher 2016 crowned
James Henshaw of Taylor’s Farm Shop in Lathom, Lancashire, has been crowned Britain’s best young butcher after beating seven other elite butcher apprentices at the finals of the Premier Young Butcher Competition 2016.
James Henshaw with NFMFT president, Jim Sperring and master of the Worshipful Company of Butchers, Patricia Dart.
The competitors endured a gruelling five hour, six category competition, demonstrating their skills with seam butchery and creating displays of Ready to Eat, Stuffed Roast, Barbecue and Kitchen Ready products.
Henshaw, a level two Meat Ipswich apprentice and the youngest competitor in the field at 18 years old, won the Ready to Eat, Barbecue and Display categories as well as being highly commended for seam butchery, before taking the overall title.
He follows in the footsteps of last year’s winner Lucy Crawshaw, also of Taylor’s Farm Shop.
This year’s runner-up was 20-year-old Butchery World Skills 2015 bronze medallist Dylan Gillespie of Clogher Valley Meats in County Tyrone. He achieved second place by winning the Kitchen Ready category and receiving a highly commended in the Stuffed Roast category.
NFMFT president Jim Sperring with (l to r) Harry Smith, Premier Young Butcher 2016 James Henshaw, Erin Conroy, Stuart Rankin, James Gracey, Elsie Yardley, runner-up Dylan Gillespie, and James Taylor.
The competition was organised by the National Federation of Meat and Food Traders (NFMFT) at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham.
The competitors were judged by industry experts Danny Upson of Dalziel; AHDB Pork product manager, chief executive of the Institute of Meat and international butchery judge Keith Fisher; and UK national team coach, industry consultant and RAPS (UK) representatitve Viv Harvey.
Speaking at the presentations, south London butcher and NFMFT president Jim Sperring said: “It’s great to see young people with the sort of skills demonstrated here today. Full marks to them all, they’re a credit to the trade and I’m sure they all have great futures ahead of them.”
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