Ashampstead butcher Vicars Game wins in Countryside Alliance Awards

A village butcher has won a regional award for best butcher in the South East.

Vicars Game, in Ashampstead, won best butcher in the South East of England in the annual Countryside Alliance Awards.

The steaks were high, as the butcher went head to head with three other butchers for the honour, including Padbury Meats, Buckinghamshire, Park Farm Butchers, Kent, and Fernygrove Farm Butchers and Coffee Shop, Bracknell, Berkshire.

But that didn’t stop the business, which was bought out by Yattendon Estates in July 2021, coming out on top.

The English meat and game specialist was nominated by the public and won thanks to a public vote.

Managing director Richard Clare said the team was thrilled with the win.

He said: "To be nominated by our amazing customers was a special endorsement of what we have created here at Vicars, to win the competition is just fantastic.

"It is testament to the great team and great produce that we can offer our customers through careful selection of suppliers and the great skill of our butchers across the business.

"It also testament to the great atmosphere across the whole shop that all the Casey Fields Farm Shop team create and that is why it is so important to recognise the collective effort throughout Vicars. “

Vicars Game has been supplying farm shops, restaurants and retailers for more than 100 years.

The Countryside Alliance Awards, which is in its 16th year, celebrates rural businesses who support their local economy and are the unsung heroes of their communities.