Butchery apprentice Sarah wins SMI award

A young mother taking her first steps in the butchery industry is the latest to benefit from Seymour Manufacturing International’s long-standing support for the country’s up-and-coming meat producers.

The annual awards competition, run jointly by the Institute of Meat and the Worshipful Company of Butchers, rewards the latest stars of the industry, as well as recognising some of the butchery world’s stalwarts.

Seymour Manufacturing International has been supporting the competition for more than two decades, and proudly sponsored the category for Best New Apprentice once again at the 2022 ceremony.

The trophy and certificate this year went to Sarah Porter, who returned to work in October after giving birth to her daughter, on a butchery apprenticeship at the Stansted Park farm shop in Hampshire.

SMI’s divisional sales manager for the south, Ross Clarke, was at the historic Butchers’ Hall in London to see Sarah presented with the award by HRH The Princess Royal.

She receives a trophy, £250 prize and a year’s membership of the Institute of Meat. As well as completing her butchery training, Sarah gets involved in helping with the marketing of the farm shop, which is in the grounds of the stately home near Chichester.

Her colleagues say: “Sarah has been doing a superb job at our butchery counter. She is already extremely knowledgeable about food, is keen to learn, and is a superb communicator with customers. This has clearly been noticed by her tutor at Plumpton College who put her forward for the award.”

Ross said: “It was a pleasure meeting Sarah to find out about her inspirational story, and to join in celebrating her achievements. We were also lucky enough to get chance to speak to Princess Anne and tell her a little about SMI’s product range.”

SMI founder and chairman Brian Seymour added: “Although we are not food producers, our award-winning thermal insulation products are used extensively in the food industry, and we are keen to support the important areas of meat training and education.

“We are proud to be associated with this annual event which promotes and celebrates exactly what we want to see from the next generation of meat industry entrepreneurs.”

The Worshipful Company of Butchers is one of the oldest livery companies in the City of London, with records dating back as far as 975AD.