Jim Sutcliffe
November 10th
Young Butcher of the Year
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Preparing Haslet
Hello and welcome to my Blog. My name is Jim Sutcliffe and I am 24 years old. I live in Lincolnshire and I am the Manager of a butchers shop in Louth called Meridian Meats Family Butchers. In time I hope to tell you all about our shop in Louth, what we do and how we won the Country Life magazine’s Britain’s Best Steak earlier this year as well as about my parents’ farm where we breed pedigree Longhorn cattle and rare breed sheep. In the meantime you can visit our online shop where you can buy our Longhorn beef and other locally sourced meat. You can also go to www.tetfordlonghorns.co.uk which is the farm’s site and you can read the Country Life article by downloading this PDF.
For now I want to tell you about the BBC3’s Young Butcher of the Year programme which is due to be screened on Monday 16th November at 10.30pm and again on Tuesday 17th at 9pm and again at 11.45pm that evening.
I entered this competition and succeeded in getting through the preliminary rounds into the final 5 contestants. The BBC says “the programme celebrates the UK’s unsung heroes, as five young butchers compete for the title BBC Young Butcher of the Year. Faced with four intense challenges designed to test their skills, creativity and knowledge, they are judged by two leading industry experts, master butcher David Lishman and Justin Preston, and there can only be one winner.” Well, I’m not sure about the unsung heroes bit but the challenges were certainly intense!
You’ll have to watch the programme to see how I got on. I think it is going to be well worth watching in any case as Euan Fergusan wrote in the Observer newspaper on Sunday 8th November that “It makes a refreshing change from the usual reality talent shows” and goes on to say “…this is the most enthralling hour the channel has ever produced” You can read his full review here.
I do hope you will be able to watch the programme and that you enjoy it. I am certainly looking forward to seeing what bits the BBC has chosen to keep to make the 60 minutes for the programme, there will be many hours of film on the cutting room floor!
5 Comments for Jim Sutcliffe
Hello Jim, I am just putting an newsletter together to let all our customers know about you and the great meat you sell at Meridian Meats. You have all done very well since taking over Sandys – thanks for helping to keep the eastend (of Eastgate) a thriving place full of quality businesses.
Best wishes your neighbours Adrian and Amanda Budd of All Seasons Holidays 140-142 Eastgate
Trevor CairnsNovember 19, 2009
Hi and well done on your win. I can only put it down to the quality education we gave you at Riseholme all those years ago!!
Drop us a line when you have the time from your celebrity lifestyle..
Trev
Jenny PattersonNovember 19, 2009
Jim,
We have just watched you win Young Butcher of the Year, and although we don’t know you, we are really thrilled. Many congratulations. Hopefully one day we will come to your shop and you can sell us a delicious piece of meat from the farm.
Jenny
yoss yvel (norway-stoke on trent)November 20, 2009
Good on you lad, i was so proud to see a young British artisan being so knowledgeable and so passionate about ‘local produce’. fresh local produce is such an important thing for new uk butchers to offer.
i just wish there were similar butchers over towards the west coast who had a similar passion for a trade. is is so important to the preservation of great british culture that tradesmen such as your self remain on the highstreet.
you are truely a rare gem, and the uk needs more foody young talents like yourself. lads of our generation with such creative flar and passion for food is a rarity, you should be proud of yourself.
i wish the best to you..
JB
Dear Jim
Congratulations! Your back must be quite sore by now! What a splendid achievement, and how encouraging to see someone carrying forward the sort of skills that are such an important part of our heritage. One of the things that worries our campaign group, Keep Louth Special, is that, as the supermarkets continue their relentless drive into market towns all over the country, such skills will eventually fade away and be lost forever, as local, independent butchers, bakers, florists, and so on, gradually disappear. Your achievement is deservedly great news for you and your business, but we think it’s also good news for Louth. No wonder so many people come from out of town to shop here!
Alan Mumby
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November 15, 2009