Ian Wood, who has been praised as one of the British meat industry’s leading experts, has retired following a long career that started in his teens.
Wood, 60, became a butcher aged 14 on the Isle of Wight, later joining Sainsbury’s in Kent, before studying as a meat inspector.
From the age of 24, he began to teach courses at Smithfield College, passing on his skills and knowledge to future generations of butchers.
In 1991 he moved to his current role as a tutor at Waltham Forest College, and estimates he has taught around 1,500 apprentices during the course of his career.
As well as leading an apprentice programme for Morrison’s, for the last four years he has run a bespoke course he designed in conjunction with GPS Food Group, for employees of the meat supply-chain provider.
“It’s time to move on,” said Wood. “I’ve had so many students over the years that have gone on and done well. It makes me very proud. All I ever wanted to do was give young butchers a greater understanding of the wider aspects of the meat industry, from farm to fork. Now I’m looking forward to my retirement!”
Mick Lane, operations manager at GPS, said of Wood: “He is a true master-butcher. There are very few like him. He’s kept the teaching aspect of the industry alive.
“He's got such a wealth of knowledge and his whole existence is about passing it on to others. As far as we know, his course is the only one of its kind in the south of England…Ian is a soldier of the meat trade. He has fought to keep alive the standards for which it is known.”
The students who have benefited from Wood’s expertise over the years are equally effusive in their praise.
“He is one of a kind,” said Fergus Quinn-Smith, the co-founder and owner of GPS, and a former student of Wood’s.
“He taught me at Smithfield College way back in 1981. He has such energy and knowledge, and knows every aspect of the trade. It’s been wonderful to work with him again so many years later, but he is a huge loss to our industry.”
And 2016 graduate Paul Davies, an accounts assistant with GPS, said: “The irony is that 2016 is the end of an illustrious career for Ian Wood, and hopefully the beginning of a new one for me. He has been a huge help to me. Thank you Ian.”
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
