Butchery Apprentice
ABP UK
Shropshire (SY1 4AH)
Closes in 30 days (Friday 3 April 2026)
Posted on 24 February 2026
Contents
Summary
As a Butchery Apprentice, you'll gain knowledge and practical skills in butchery, contributing to the production of award-winning British & Irish beef and lamb products. You'll learn about quality, efficiency, sustainability, animal welfare and much more! This apprenticeship is a foundation for a fulfilling career in the food industry.
- Wage
-
£20,000 a year
Check minimum wage rates (opens in new tab)
Throughout the duration on your apprenticeship, there will be ongoing reviews of your salary in relation to key milestone and skill level.
- Training course
- Butcher (level 2)
- Hours
-
Shift work, starting at 6am. Monday to Friday only.
End time will depend on the day but typically between 2pm - 4pm.
40 hours a week
- Start date
-
Saturday 4 April 2026
- Duration
-
1 year 6 months
- Positions available
-
6
Work
Most of your apprenticeship is spent working. You’ll learn on the job by getting hands-on experience.
What you'll do at work
- Learn the Basics: Acquire foundational knowledge in butchery principles, meat species, and carcass processing techniques.
- Master Your Craft: Develop knife skills for cutting, boning, trimming, and mincing meat.
- Gain Industry Insight: Understand the meat sector's history, values, culture, and traditions.
- Team Collaboration: Work with the team to meet deadlines and productivity targets.
- Maintain Standards: Adhere to health, food safety, and hygiene standards.
- Support Operations: Assist in stock control, quality assurance, and customer expectations.
Where you'll work
ABP Shrewsbury,
1 Battlefield Rd,
Shrewsbury,
Shropshire
SY1 4AH
Training
Apprenticeships include time away from working for specialist training. You’ll study to gain professional knowledge and skills.
Training provider
MERCURI INTERNATIONAL (UK) LIMITED
Training course
Butcher (level 2)
Understanding apprenticeship levels (opens in new tab)
What you'll learn
Course contents
- Comply with regulations and legislation relevant to their role and business.
- Maintains and sharpens knives and cutting equipment.
- Manual handling of carcases or primals through the manufacturing or butchery process.
- Adhere to the organisational policies and standard operating procedures.
- Maintain the meat product to the given customer specification and food safety compliance and traceability procedures in the meat supply chain.
- Support colleagues in delivering the daily workplace requirements.
- Use technology and applications to support production, sales, and customer service.
- Contribute to continuous improvement activities which focus on improving sustainability within the business.
- Communicate with customers and stakeholders to meet their requirements.
- Process and dispose of waste material.
- Uses knives and cutting equipment to undertake a range of primary and secondary butchery skills.
- Serve customers in line with brand standards.
- Advise customers on the use by dates, storage, preparation, and cooking of meat products.
- Prepare, produce, and display meat products such as joints, portions, sausages, burgers, value-added products and offer alternative products when required.
- Plan and prepare for seasonal supply and demand of meat products in the merchandising and promotion of seasonal foods.
- Provide provenance and heritage product information.
- Set up and close meat counter displays.
- Balance the customers’ needs with additional linked products and services such as marinades, and encourage customer loyalty and repeat business.
- Produce meat to the specific volume, size, and weight to meet the needs of stakeholders.
- Maximise the saleable yield for the business relating to carcases or primals.
- Contribute to efficiencies to support the key performance indicators (KPIs) of the business through working to agreed specifications for their role.
- Adhere to customer specifications and contracts.
- Contribute to foreign body control and metal detection.
- Meet key performance indicators within meat processing.
- Comply with regulations and legislation relevant to their role and business.
- Maintains and sharpens knives and cutting equipment.
- Manual handling of carcases or primals through the manufacturing or butchery process.
- Adhere to the organisational policies and standard operating procedures.
- Maintain the meat product to the given customer specification and food safety compliance and traceability procedures in the meat supply chain.
- Support colleagues in delivering the daily workplace requirements.
- Use technology and applications to support production, sales, and customer service.
- Contribute to continuous improvement activities which focus on improving sustainability within the business.
- Communicate with customers and stakeholders to meet their requirements.
- Process and dispose of waste material.
- Uses knives and cutting equipment to undertake a range of primary and secondary butchery skills.
Training schedule
Training will take place on site at ABP and will be delivered through a combination of an external trainer, as well as an onsite team who will guide and support you through the apprenticeship programme. You'll meet with the external trainer throughout the month and work towards completing tasks and is a combination of theory and practical work.
Requirements
Share if you have other relevant qualifications and industry experience. The apprenticeship can be adjusted to reflect what you already know.
Skills
- Attention to detail
- Team working
- Physical fitness
About this employer
ABP Food Group is one of Europe’s leading integrated agri-food businesses, with divisions specialising in food production, pet food and renewables. Over our 70-year history, we have grown to 14,000 strong team and have built a reputation for quality and innovation. ABP UK, part of the ABP Food Group produces quality fresh and frozen beef, lamb and frozen meat-free products to some of the nations leading supermarkets and restaurants, including a number of Michelin Star establishments!
After this apprenticeship
This apprenticeship is a stepping stone to advanced qualifications and specialised roles within ABP UK. You'll also be recognised by the Institute of Meat (IoM), enabling you to use the initials M.Inst.M. Continue your journey in sustainable butchery, retail, or further education in the broader meat industry.
Ask a question
The contact for this apprenticeship is:
ABP UK
Kate Taylor
earlycareers@abpbeef.com
The reference code for this apprenticeship is VAC2000017231.
Apply now
Closes in 30 days (Friday 3 April 2026)
After signing in, you’ll apply for this apprenticeship on the company's website.