THE reigning UK Young Butcher of the Year, George Taylor, is celebrating after making it through to the national finals of the 2015 Meat Management Industry Awards.

The 23-year-old, who has been running the meat counter at Country Harvest at Ingleton, for the past 18 months, received a certificate in recognition of his achievement at a ceremony at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole.

And looking on were his proud parents John and Becky Taylor, partner Harriet Phillipson, and Country Harvest foodhall manager Richard Simmonds.

George underwent a gruelling interview process in London before being selected for the finals. One of the judges described George’s “knowledge, passion, enthusiasm and foresight” as a breath of fresh air for the industry as a whole.

As well as managing the butchery department, George supplies Country Harvest’s cafe with meat, and his pork is used by Bentham's Oakroyd Bakery for its award-winning recipe pies.

George has also built up local wholesale customer base and he has just developed a new range of ready meals called fresh-2-cook

Another local finalist at the awards was butcher Gordon Atkinson, was born and bred on the family farm on Addingham Moorside.

Gordon, who now runs Elite Meat in Starbeck, Harrogate, was shortlisted for Britain’s Best Butchers Shop and while the business didn’t win the overall title, he said he was thrilled that the shop had got through to the national final.

He said: “We were up against some of the UK’s leading butchers, so it is a great honour to make it through to the last four in the entire country.

“Over the 17 years we have been in business as Elite Meat, we have had great success with all our meats, already winning the UK’s best sausage, ready meal, cooked meat, beef, lamb and pork titles.

“These achievements are a great testament to my hard-working 13-strong team, the quality of the animals we get from our farmer suppliers and our very supportive loyal customers.”

Award judges said Gordon was an innovator in terms of product development and used all types of electronic communication, including social media and marketing, to attract customers.

The judges also took note of the shop’s charity work in raising £350,000 over the last decade for a local pub, the Coach and Horses in Harrogate, and Martin House children's hospice in Wetherby.

Elite Meat was established by Gordon in 1999 and expanded in 2003 with the acquisition of a neighbouring business, which virtually doubled the size of the shop to 2,000 square feet.

Gordon’s brother Andrew is also involved in the business. Their father, Ben, is well-known in the local farming community, having been voted Yorkshire Farming Personality of the Year. He also sat on the Animal Welfare Council for more than ten years.

While Gordon is a familiar face behind the counter, Andrew raises sheep on his own farm in Kettlesing, providing top-notch prime lambs for sale in the shop, as well as sourcing them from local auction marts, including Skipton.

The shop remains fully committed to its long-standing local meat supply ethos, also sourcing all its beef from Frank Carr in Malham and pork from Colin Piercy in Easingwold.

Elite Meat is also a long-time member of the national Butchers Q Guild, which represents 110 award-winning butchers from the Scottish Highlands down to the south coast.