Fife butcher Jamie Syme has been rewarded with the highest title at the Scottish Meat Training Meat Skills Competition at Perth, winning the Butcher Of The Year title.
The 27-year-old Scottish champion has been working in the meat industry since he was 13 years old, when he worked at Alex Mitchell Butchers in Glenrothes as a weekend dishwasher, before taking up an apprenticeship there when he left school.
Butchers from across Scotland competed for the title, with four finalists going head-to-head in a series of demanding skills assessments.
Elsewhere, 18-year-old Ryan Briggs from Jedburgh and the youngest in the meat skills competition took home the Under-22 title of Scotland’s Young Butcher Of The Year. He has worked with A J Learmoth Butchers in Jedburgh High Street since leaving school two years ago.
Event head judge and chief executive of the Institute of Meat, Keith Fisher, said the two winners displayed “outstanding skills” and added: “Their enthusiasm, skill and passion shines through in all they do and both our young and senior champions are more than deserving their titles.
“They are shining examples of the extremely high standard of butchery we enjoy in Scotland.”
Syme dedicated his title to his newly born daughter, Grace, and commented: “This is the biggest butcher title you can win in Scotland and it means everything to me. I’m absolutely delighted.”
Briggs said: “I’m absolutely blown away to win this. This is the life I want and winning this title at 18 is a brilliant boost for me.”
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.
