WINNING the Young Butcher of Year title against competition from around the country is the perfect early Christmas present for George Taylor.

George, 22, who runs the butcher's department at Ingleton gift shop, cafe and delicatessen Country Harvest, was presented with his award at the Meat Trades Journal's Butcher's Shop of the Year Awards in London.

"You don't like to be too confident, but I hoped it would go well and it all worked out perfect. I was ecstatic," said George.

Born and bred in Ingleton, George first got into his trade as a Saturday job, then worked as an apprentice for a local butcher and did a one-day-a-week course at Thomas Danby College, Leeds.

He started working at Country Harvest when his former boss had the meat counter concession there, and took charge of that side of the business about 10 months ago. George said he thought one of the features of his work that really impressed the award judges was the amount of responsibility he had at such a young age, being in charge of all aspects of the department - cutting the meat, dealing with customers and having an apprentice working for him.

The judges came to Ingleton and spent about five hours observing all aspects of his work. "It was more intense than I was expecting," he said.

Gaining the award during the run-up to Christmas was great timing, said George, with an increasingly popular special event due at Country Harvest on November 26 when suppliers provide taster opportunities of their products for customers.

It is also a boost for George's future career. "It's something that's always going to be on my CV," he said. "I just hope to build up to a point where we have a bigger team here."

Country Harvest co-owner Mike Clark said: "He's done superbly well and we are very proud of him.

"He's a very good butcher, he's very enthusiastic, he's a superb people person, he's a good sales person, he always looks to do the best for everybody and makes sure customers are getting good deals. He's a fantastic all-rounder, he has all the skills that are needed."

But George is not the only butcher with Craven links to have won accolades recently.

Keelham Farm Shop, which will soon be opening a second outlet in Skipton, was crowned Supreme Pork Pie Champion at the 26th annual Great Yorkshire Pork Pie, Sausage & Products Competition.

It was only the second time Keelham, based in Thornton, Bradford, had entered the pork pie section of the competition, and its recent acquisition of Amblers Bakery, also in Thornton, had clearly paid off. They clinched supreme championship honours with their first prize small pork pie.

Lee Scott, butcher manager at Keelham, said: “We took over Amblers about 18 months ago because it was going to close. It had been going since the late 1800s and had a great reputation. We’re still using their same recipe for our pork pies, although we’ve added a different jelly. We’re absolutely delighted to win these prizes. It’s the most important competition for us.”

The shop also finished as runner-up in the speciality sausage class, third in thick pork sausage class and was highly commended in both the black pudding and beefburger classes

Lee said: “We’re looking forward to coming to Skipton. We already buy supreme prime cattle and lamb champions from Skipton Auction Mart, as we only want the best quality meat. One of our key brand values is to use Yorkshire products, so Skipton is perfect because it’s the nearest mart to us and it sells top quality livestock.”

There may be more prizes to come, as H Weatherhead and Son of Pateley Bridge, which opened a new shop in Grassington earlier this year, is in the running for a Champion of Champions title after winning Best Butcher in the UK and Ireland at the 2014 Countryside Alliance Awards.

Voting for the champions award is open this mointh and the results will be announced in February. Details are on the Countryside Alliance website.