Castle Douglas Butcher Grierson Bros Joins the Elite Q Guild Butchers.
Fourth generation Scottish family butchers Grierson Bros in Castle Douglas, Dumfries and Galloway, have been awarded membership of the national Butchers Q Guild.
The King Street business, which has traded from the same shop for close on a century, joins an exclusive group of 118 award-winning independent butchers across the UK. The Q Guild brand is held aloft as a seal of excellence, with some of the highest quality butchers in the country figuring among its growing numbers.
Grierson Bros Butchers is currently run in partnership by father and son, Clark and Tom Grierson, though the roots of the business do, in fact, stretch back more than 100 years to a time when Tom`s own great grandfather first started delivering meat to local farmers by horse and cart.
The King Street shop was first established by Clark`s grandfather John and his brother James, who handed on to the next generation of Griersons, brothers Culton and John, who were in turn followed by Clark and his brother, another John. Tom Grierson, the fourth generation, has himself worked for the family business for 30 years.
While continuing to trade from the self-same premises, Grierson Bros Butchers has kept pace with the times by continually seeking to improve, expand and diversify the business, including, back in the 1970s, the provision of a purpose-built in-house meat processing unit and recently updating their front shop to better display their products.
Grierson Bros has also maintained a long-held tradition of sourcing and supplying only Scottish beef, lamb and pork from local farms and suppliers. Prime lambs all come from its local Wallets` Marts in Castle Douglas, with other prime quality animals sourced through Border Meats in Lockerbie.
`This gives us total hands-on control over the supply process, ensures full traceability, reduces stress on the animals and keeps food miles to a minimum. This is very important to us,` explained Tom Grierson.
All Grierson Bros` beef is matured for up to five weeks, so maximising texture, taste and eating quality, with pure-bred Aberdeen Angus beef currently proving popular among the shop`s customers, many of whom have regulars for years.
The business is also renowned for its home-cured bacon, along with a comprehensive stable of home-made puddings, burgers and sausages. Home-made ready meals, cooked meats and pies, poultry and game are also available all year round.
Grierson Bros, which has a seven-strong team of butchers, operates a mail order facility and runs a delivery service to local homes and businesses
Tom Grierson said: `We deem it a great honour to be accepted into the hallowed ranks of the Butchers Q Guild and are confident that membership ticks all the right boxes when it comes to the future progression of our business.
`We are looking forward to attending Scottish regional meetings and social events to both network with and share ideas with like-minded butchers – in fact, butchers nationwide who are at the top of their trade.
`We feel sure that this exchange of knowledge and expertise will equip us with both inspiration and ideas for new products that we can then introduce into our own business.
`We are also keen to put our own products to the test in the Q Guild`s annual Smithfield Awards and BBQ Championships, both high profile product evaluation contests. We haven`t followed this path previously and we realise we will be up against some of the best butchers in the business, However, we are keen to learn from fellow Q Guild butchers and hope to land some glittering accolades ourselves!`
The Q Guild press office is based at the Guild`s headquarters at 8-10 Needless Road, Perth, PH2 0JW. For press enquiries, contact manager Gordon Newlands on 07918762254, email gordon@qguild.co.uk or visit www.qguild.co.uk
Grierson Bros Butchers is at 148, King Street, Castle Douglas.If you would like to contact them direct or take your own in-shop pics, please call Tom Grierson on 01556 502637 or email info@griersonbros.co.uk