Julie Hallett, who helps run Little Town Farm Shop and Butchery near Preston with her family, is looking to bring on a new butchery apprentice to join their award-winning team.
The farm shop situated on the edge of the Forest of Bowland grows its own home reared Aberdeen Angus beef, which is prepared in the shop along with other local meats.
The apprenticeship role is a first for the family run business since the farm expanded in 2020 and the Forshaw family, who are Longridge and Ribchester NFU members, hopes it will give young people an understanding of farming, animal welfare and access to a highly skilled and important trade.
Little Town Farm Shop and Butchery has a strong commitment to sustainability, animal welfare and community.
Alongside beef, pork and lamb the shop also sells yoghurts from the family dairy next door, along with other Lancashire products.
Julie Hallett, who runs the farm shop, café and butchery alongside her daughter Nicola, said: “We want to give young people a chance to learn a highly skilled and vital trade in butchery. They will learn everything from how we care and rear for our animals to a full hands-on butchery experience.
“We are a unique family run farm and shop with our own butchery so they will learn everything about food and farming.”
The apprenticeship will combine structured training with practical, hands-on experience, giving the new apprentice a comprehensive understanding of the meat supply chain - from field to fork.
They will also learn knife skills, carcass breakdown, food hygiene, customer service, and sustainable practices, championing locally sourced food.
The Forshaw family started off with just seven cows in the 1970s but now has 1,400 beef and dairy cows and have built the business with three generations of the family running it. This is made up of Little Town Farm Shop and Butchery, Little Town Farm, Little Town Dairy and SO Plants Country Garden Store.
Helping to safeguard a vital trade
Lancashire County Adviser Aarun Naik said: “The UK butchery industry is facing a well-documented skills shortage, this apprenticeship not only offers meaningful employment but helps safeguard a vital trade for future generations.
“It is great that the Forshaw family is offering this opportunity to learn about food and farming, and it also supports the local economy by investing in people and prioritising regional food production.”
The business was also one of the first farms in the country to use automated milking machines on their herd of Holstein Friesian cows.
The family has also safeguarded the future of the farm businesses by forming a Trust to ensure the farm will continue to produce quality Lancashire food for people’s tables.