Quality Meat Scotland (QMS), in partnership with Scotland Food & Drink, is aiming to change the face of butchery by urging young people and career changers to consider a role within the sector – and filling more than 750 potential vacancies in the process.
With the average age of a butcher in Scotland much higher than other professions, the industry needs to ensure there is a pipeline of trainees coming through to future proof the red meat sector, amidst a serious shortfall of skilled positions.
Around a quarter of current vacancies are apprenticeship opportunities in the retail, processing and catering sector.
Grant Duffy, of Strachan’s Craft Butchers in Blantyre, is an ambassador for The Scotch Butchers Club and has worked in the butchery trade for 13 years. Starting as an apprentice at James Ewart’s in Perthshire, he moved to Lanarkshire as a qualified butcher and assumed the position of butchery manager in 2020.
“Becoming a fully qualified butcher is no easy task, you have to be determined and be willing to hit the ground running, but you really do get back what you put in.
“Butchery is such a rewarding career and I’ve learned so many skills that I’ve been able to use in my everyday life, not just at work.”
Gordon Newlands, brand development and Scotch Butchers Club manager at QMS, said: “Butchery is one of the oldest crafts in the world and an industry we are keen to protect.
“We’re working on bringing the average age of a butcher down and balancing the gender split – only 14% of apprentices are currently women.
“On the back of a few very challenging years, we continue to face a skilled labour shortage in the UK,“ he continued. “Offering apprenticeships allows younger generations and career changers the chance to up-skill on the job, which in turn supports our social and economic future.”
The butchery programme is also raising awareness of Scottish Government funding opportunities available to support businesses in employing young people.
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