Butchery & Charcutier Apprentice
Knepp Wild Range Meat
Horsham (RH13 8QB)
Closes in 13 days (Friday 4 September 2026 at 11:59pm)
Posted on 20 August 2026
Contents
Summary
As a Butchery and Charcuterie apprentice, you will support daily operations and will receive structured training in all areas of meat processing, from carcass breakdown and order fulfilment to curing, fermentation, smoking and producing award-winning charcuterie. This is an ideal role for someone seeking a long-term career working with meat.
- Wage
-
£16,640 to £26,436.80, depending on your age
National Minimum Wage
- Training course
- Butcher (level 2)
- Hours
-
Monday to Friday 07:00 - 15:45.
40 hours a week
- Start date
-
Monday 14 September 2026
- Duration
-
1 year 6 months
- Positions available
-
1
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
Day to day tasks will vary but will include:
- Assisting with carcass handling
- Preparation
- Cutting
- Packing and labelling
- Supporting fulfilment of retail, e-commerce, and wholesale orders
- Learning traditional butchery techniques under the guidance of experienced butchers
- Assisting with preparation of cured and fermented products
Where you'll work
Knepp Wild Range Pound Farm
Pound Lane
Horsham
RH13 8QB
Training
Apprenticeships include time away from working for specialist training. You’ll study to gain professional knowledge and skills.
Training provider
PLUMPTON COLLEGE
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
Butcher Level 2.
The apprenticeship is delivered in-person at Plumpton College once every two weeks.
Requirements
Desirable qualifications
GCSE in:
- English (grade 4)
- Maths (grade 4)
Share if you have other relevant qualifications and industry experience. The apprenticeship can be adjusted to reflect what you already know.
Skills
- Initiative
- Physical fitness
Other requirements
This role is in a rural location so own transport would be advantageous, this is a fast-paced environment and heavy lifting is part of the day to day work.
About this employer
Knepp Wild Range Meat is produced from free-roaming animals raised within the pioneering rewilding landscape of the Knepp Estate. Our mission is to produce exceptional quality meat while supporting nature recovery, biodiversity, and regenerative food production. We are looking for an enthusiastic and hardworking individual to join our growing butchery team. This role offers a unique opportunity to learn traditional butchery skills while developing specialist expertise in charcuterie production, with a clear pathway for career progression as the business grows.
Company benefits
Additional specialist training in charcuterie and IT skills plus opportunities to take part in multiple environmental projects, regular staff events including guest speakers, games and film nights.
After this apprenticeship
Your earnings can increase over time with an apprenticeship. Find out about potential future pay (opens in new tab).
Full-time butcher or transition into one of our charcutier's.
Ask a question
The contact for this apprenticeship is:
PLUMPTON COLLEGE
The reference code for this apprenticeship is VAC2000049233.
Apply now
Closes in 13 days (Friday 4 September 2026 at 11:59pm)