Meat industry training and achievement celebrated at Butchers’ Hall

The Institute of Meat (IoM) chief executive Dave Smith F. Inst. M revealed the winners in each category at the Annual Prizegiving, held on 26th February in Butchers’ Hall, and winners were then presented with their awards by the Master of the Worshipful Company of Butchers (WCB) Gwyn Howells.

The apprentice category winners each received a cheque for £250, a framed certificate and a year’s free membership of The Institute of Meat.

To view the winners, click on the award categories below:

The highly coveted award of Champion Meat Apprentice of the Year, which is sponsored by Meat Management magazine and presented by publisher Graham Yandell, MBE, was won by Nikita Somma, from Sykes House Farm. The judges were particularly impressed by Nikita’s technical ability, creativity and composure under pressure when competing in the ‘Battle of the Apprentice Butchers’ at the Great Yorkshire Show, which resulted in her winning the Golden Cleaver as well as two other awards. 

Nikita received a winner’s trophy and certificate, a year’s free IoM membership and an additional cash prize of £500.

Commenting on his first year presiding over the prizegiving, Dave Smith said: “I’ve attended the IoM/WCB Annual Prizegiving many times as a guest, but standing here today to personally applaud the efforts and achievements of today’s award recipients has been doubly rewarding and enjoyable.

“I’m especially pleased to see women so well represented amongst our apprentice winners. The meat industry is for all. It’s good to see this message gaining traction where it matters – at grass-roots level.”

Master Butchers

In addition to the prizegiving, the event celebrated the accreditation of 13 new Master Butchers. The awarding criteria for IoM accredited Master Butchers is rigorous, and applications are invited only from very experienced and skilful butchers. Past CEO, chief moderator and Fellow of The Institute of Meat Keith Fisher (F. Inst. M) awarded this honour to the following butchers:

Bill Jermey, IoM chairman and instigator of the Master Butcher programme, commented: “In Butchers’ Hall today we have brought together talented people from across the whole career spectrum – new apprentices to seasoned industry professionals. Creating this opportunity to make lasting connections is an important aspect of the Annual Prizegiving and one that I hope our winners take full advantage of.”

Rounding off a special day of celebrations was the inauguration of three new Fellows of The Institute of Meat: Gywn Howells, Master of the Worshipful Company of Butchers, Paul Miles from the Booker Group, and Paul Cadman from Crosby Management Training.