Team GB Butchery has announced its full team for the World Butchers’ Challenge (WBC) in Paris, which will take place on 30th-31st March 2025.
A total of 14 teams from across the world will be travelling to Paris to compete in WBC, which Team GB Butchery described as “the greatest butchery event on Earth”.
The 2025 Senior Squad
Ben Tindale: Team captain of the UK Lions, this will be Tindale’s second WBC having competed as vice-captain in 2022. Tindale is from South Lincolnshire and manages G Shearer & Son Butchers. His passion for butchery and product innovation has also led to partnership with seasoning manufacturer, Raps UK, and a brand ambassador role with Monolith Grills.
Richard Megahy: Veteran of Simon Howie Butchers in Perth, Megahy has also won ‘Scottish Butcher of the Year’ five times! Competing in WBC will be a family affair for Megahy as his son Ben also made the final cut, representing Great Britain in the apprentice category.
Steven Owens: General manager of acclaimed London butchers Lidgates, Owens has worked for some of the most prestigious names in the capital, including The Ginger Pig, Fortnum & Masons and HG Walter.
Ryan Tierney: Tierney works for Kinnaird Butcher and Deli Shop in Larbert, a town in the Forth Valley of Scotland. Though no stranger to competitive butchery this will be his first time competing on the world stage and he’s ‘looking forward to showcasing what we can do’.
Elsie Yardley: Butchery Manager at Great Garnett Farm in Essex, this will be Yardley’s second WBC, having competed in the 2022 event in Sacramento, which she described as ‘one of the greatest achievements so far in my career.’
James Mitchell: Hailing from a beef farm, Mitchell has an innate understanding of the quality of British meat. Assistant manager of award winning Cooper Butchers in Bellshill, North Lanarkshire, Mitchell says ‘it feels like a dream come true’ to be part of the UK Lions final team.
Patrick Millward, owner of JF Bishop of Uckfield, East Sussex, will be supporting the team as reserve. His speciality is blending modern craft butchery with traditional to develop new product lines for his growing business.
World Champion Butcher Apprentice
Connor Ringrose: Ringrose is a third-generation apprentice butcher working with his uncle in the family business, Ringrose Butchers, in Leicestershire. In his words, Ringrose is “brimming with youth, energy and inspiration” and is “buzzing to be a part of this”.
Ben Megahy: Megahy hails from Perth where he works with his father, also a butcher, at Simon Howie Butchers. He says he is “ready to take his development to the next level by competing in the World Butchers’ Challenge”.
Young Butcher
Kirsty Neil: An assistant manager at the largest of the six Scott Brothers shops on Strathmartine Road in Dundee, Neil is counting down the days until WBC and says she is “super excited” about the challenge ahead”.
Henry Curd: Curd is head butcher and butchery manager for Paley Farm, a pasture for life farm and butchery in Kent. Having grown up on a farm he says he is aiming to tell the farm to fork story in his product display.
Mia Tamburrini, owner of private butchery business ‘Raise the Steaks’, 2024 Women In Meat Industry Awards finalist and 2023 Champion Meat Apprentice in the Institute of Meat and Worshipful Company of Butchers Annual Prizegiving, will support the team as a reserve.
The establishment of the first Team GB Butchery board last year aims to provide a solid foundation for British butchery to be represented on the world stage and promote the quality of meat produced in Britain. The board consists of representatives from The Dalesman Group, Scottish Craft Butchers, Q Guild, National Craft Butchers, Institute of Meat, AHDB, QMS, and Dalebrook.
Martin Eccles, trade butchery manager for AHDB, said: “It’s inspiring to see the meat industry coming together to support British butchery and our UK Lions squad as they prepare for World Butchers Challenge. On behalf of AHDB I’d like to wish them every success in Paris.”
Also backing the UK Lions are the following sponsors and supporters: DB Foods, AHDB, QMS, The Dalesman Group, Crosby Training, Meat Ipswich, Angel Refrigeration, Verstegen, Weald packaging, Plumpton college Jarvis UK and RAPS.
Gold sponsor DB Foods said it was “delighted and proud to be supporting the Team GB Butchery Lions as Gold sponsors, and wish the team the very best of luck”. It added: “Butchery isn’t just a skill, it’s an art. From the skilled hands that carve each cut to the techniques that bring out the full flavour of every piece, this event is a tribute to the artistry behind the meat.”
