The main purpose and scope behind our Butchery Academy is give us the ability to train and develop our own butchers, make them a key part of our success within the business in order to continue to provide our highly valued customers with the very finest of beef products and enhance our business further.

We see our trainees as a very important part of our business and encourage them to develop their potential by ensuring they gain the whole experience. As part of their training programme they visit our farms, attend food shows, visit our site in Ayr in order that they have the full understanding of the production process within the business. As part of the academy our trainees will gain cooking skills and organise charity events for worthwhile causes.

We are developing our very own Stoddart SVQ Level 2, so not only will you experience the business as 'the best in beef' but we also 'the best in training'. We provide every trainee with a recognised qualification to show that we are fully committed to the academy.

We take training very seriously and whilst we have recruited a number of our trainees externally and this opportunity is also available to any of our current employees. Training and development is a very key part to the success of our business and our people play a large part in this process.

Initially the Butchery Academy was intended to be a stop gap for me while I found my feet and figured out what I wanted to do. Instead it turned out to be a great opportunity.

Could you be next in our Butchery Academy?