Dales Butchers crowned Britain’s Best Butchers Shop

Dales Traditional Butchers from Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria voted ‘Britain’s Best Butcher’s Shop’ at the Meat Industry Awards 2021.

We were extremely proud to bring home to Kirkby Lonsdale the award for Britain’s Butcher Shop at the UK’s biggest meat industry awards ceremony. Needless to say, when we headed off down to the Hilton Birmingham Metropole for the Meat Management Industry Awards 2021 to enjoy the celebratory dinner and ceremony on 9th September, we really didn’t expect to come away with the top award.

The long-established annual awards took place online for the first time last year as a direct result of the Covid-19 pandemic, but returned this year as an in-person event. The Awards are recognised as a celebration of the creativity, innovation and excellence of the UK’s meat industry. This includes the award for Britain’s Best Butcher’s Shop, presented to a business that has made a real impact on their trade.

Winners of the 20 categories were determined through reader votes and product entries, along with a select judging panel for product evaluation. The accolades were handed out at the black-tie dinner and ceremony to companies, associations and personalities that struck a chord with both readers and judges alike. Football icon Kevin Keegan OBE presented the awards.

Graham Yandell, publisher of Meat Management magazine who stage the event, said: “It has been fantastic to bring the industry back together again for these prestigious awards and I know it has been a very special evening for so many of our guests as we all try our best to get back to something like normal.

“I would like to thank everyone who participated and in particular those who delivered products for evaluation back in June.”

Speaking after the awards, I told Meat Management that the team were “absolutely overwhelmed and in shock” at their nomination this year. He added that the win would bring “a massive boost for our business, especially for all our staff that have worked really hard to provide the products and customer service that we do.”