Julian has seen a Pateley Bridge butcher named as the best in the UK at an awards ceremony in Parliament.
Weatherhead Butchers, based on the town’s High Street, won the National Champion title in the Butchers Category of the Countryside Alliance Awards, known as the Rural Oscars. They were presented with the award by the Environment Secretary Owen Patterson.
The shop, which was featured in a Party Political Broadcast last month as an example of entrepreneurial British businesses, won the Yorkshire title last year and went one better in this year’s event.
In the citation for the award, the judges said:
“Our Champion Butcher for the UK is a fifth generation success story. The family has a farm and busy High Street shop and the current owner’s father still keeps his hand in by serving in the shop as well as judging at fatstock shows and training young farmers in what to look for while judging.
The national judging panel was very keen to honour the continuity of service that this family has provided. Now with Q Guild status the Weatherheads have been Pateley Bridge butchers since 1876 and have adapted and survived while remaining relevant and busy on the modern high street. A visit to their farm shows the priorities of the family: animal welfare, traceability and taste – all things consumers should insist upon.
“The personal charisma of Andrew Weatherhead and his young daughter’s enthusiasm for farming mean the Weatherheads of Pateley Bridge in North Yorkshire will continue to be a brand to be reckoned with.”
Julian Smith MP said:
“I am delighted that the Weatherhead family have been recognised for their hard work and dedication in building a business over five generations. They are an integral part of the community in Pateley Bridge and a destination in their own right on the town’s High Street.
“The Countryside Alliance Awards recognise all that is good about rural Britain and to be awarded the Champion Butcher title is a testament to the family’s commitment. I send my congratulations to the Weatherhead family, their staff and customers who have made the business what it is today. With Molly, a sixth generation Weatherhead, part of the team collecting the prize, the business looks to be in safe hands for the future. I wish everyone involved in this fantastic business continued success.”