PICTURED WITH THE CHAMPION BEEF AT R TURNBULL & SONS’ MARKET STREET SHOP ARE, FROM LEFT, BUTCHERS PHILLIP SHORT, PETER MCEWAN, SHOW JUDGE AND BUYER MALCOLM RIDDELL, AND DAVID GREEN.
Champion beef coup for Turnbull's Butchers
DECEMBER 2011
R Turnbull & Sons Butchers in Alnwick will be serving up championship-winning prime beef to its customers this Christmas.
Turnbulls’ chief buyer, butcher Malcolm Riddell, was invited to judge the beef cattle classes at Acklington Auction Mart’s annual Christmas primestock show and sale (Thus, Dec 1) and transferred his interest to the ringside when purchasing his chosen champion for the Market Street shop.
He paid the show-topping price of 259.5p/kg, or £1,588, for the title winner, a 612kg Limousin-cross heifer shown by I Renton and Son, of High Highlaws.
For good measure, Turnbulls Butchers also paid 216p/kg for the reserve champion Limousin-cross steer from South Rennington.
The region’s leading butchers again attended the annual highlight, as they sought to buy the best local prime meat for their customers’ festive tables.
Turnbulls’ Mark Turnbull said: “We pride ourselves on serving the finest quality Northumbrian beef from local farmers. This not only ensures full field-to-table traceability, but it also keeps food miles to a minimum, which is vital when considering the welfare of the animals.
“We are now fully maturing the beef to maximise both texture and taste, ensuring the meat is spot on for the coming festive season. The Christmas roasts, in particular, should prove memorable.”
R Turnbull & Sons is a long-standing member of the national Butchers Q Guild, which represents many of the country’s leading independent meat retailers.
JOHN & MARK TURNBULL COLLECT THE 2010 AWARD
Turnbull’s best in north again!
NOVEMBER 2010
Alnwick butcher R Turnbull & Sons has been crowned the best butchers shop in the North of England for the second year running.
Father and son butchers John and Mark Turnbull received the accolade at the finals of the annual Butcher’s Shop of the Year competition, run by the Meat Trades Journal and held at The Sheraton Park Lane Hotel, London, on Tuesday 16th November 2010.
The Butcher's Shop of the Year Awards are renowned as the premier event for the UK butchery sector. They recognise excellence in craft butchery and winners enter an exclusive group representing the crème de la crème of British butchery.
R Turnbull & Sons’ Market Street shop beat off competition from two other shortlisted entrants - Cranstons Quality Butchers, Hexham, and Bexley’s Butchers, Liverpool – to land the northern title.
Mark Turnbull said: “While we would dearly have loved to have won the national Butcher’s Shop of the Year accolade, we are over the moon to be wearing the northern crown for the second year in succession.
“This success is again down to the efforts of our entire team – both behind and front-of-shop - who will all go that extra mile when it comes to the quality and diversity of the products we offer – many of them award winners - combined with our levels of customer service.”
The competition is judged in two rounds, with an initial paper entry assessed by a panel of expert judges and the shortlisted finalists are then visited by the Meat Trade Journal’s on-the-road judges to decide the overall winners.
Ed Bedington, editor of MTJ, said: “The standard of entries seems to get higher each year.”
Turnbull’s Raise £450 for The Alnwick Christmas Lights!
Turnbulls has again demonstrated its support of the local community by staging a charity barbecue during British Sausage Week, outside the shop, on Saturday November 6th. The BBQ was a massive success and raised £450 for the Alnwick’s Christmas lights fund.
Mark Turnbull said 'The Alnwick Christmas Lights committee do a fantastic job, giving up so much of their time and providing Alnwick with a Christmas Lights display to be proud of. We are so pleased to have been able to raise funds for them and thanks go to all our customers who bought a Sausage sandwich from the BBQ'. Mark Turnbull presented the cheque to Gordon Castle on Friday November 19th, the night the lights were switched on.
MARK TURNBULL PRESENTS GORDON CASTLE
WITH A CHEQUE FOR £450.00
MARK TURNBULL PICTURED WITH CELEBRITY CHEF HESTON BLUMENTHAL AT BUTCHERS HALL, SMITHFIELD
Turnbull’s strike triple gold!
NOVEMBER 2010
Alnwick butchers, R Turnbull & Sons, this week struck triple gold with its entries in a top national product evaluation event for butchers.
In the annual Smithfield Awards, run by the Q Guild, the Market Street shop clinched a gold awards hat-trick for its venison burger – the meat comes from deer on the Duke of Northumberland’s estate – its apricot and rosemary home-cured bacon, and pork pie with caramelised onion.
Partner Mark Turnbull travelled to the Butchers Hall in London, on Tuesday 9th November to receive the awards from celebrity chef and restaurateur Heston Blumenthal.
Turnbulls is no stranger to success in the meat trades awards arena, having picked up multiple honours for its products over the years, including the overall supreme prize at the 2009 Q Guild Smithfield Awards with its garlic & chilli dry-cured bacon.
The awards figure among the most highly coveted in the meat industry, with hundreds of products from Q member butchers throughout the UK assessed by an independent panel of experts.
Turnbull’s Land ‘Top Shop’ Accolade!
NOVEMBER 2009
R Turnbull & Sons Butchers, have scooped yet another major meat industry accolade after being chosen as North of England Butcher’s Shop of the Year in annual awards run by industry ‘bible,’ the Meat Trades Journal (MTJ).
Butchers John and Mark Turnbull made their second visit to the capital within a fortnight to pick up the MTJ’s North of England Butcher’s Shop of the Year title at an awards ceremony at the Sheraton Park Lane Hotel.
Renowned as the premier awards for the UK butchery sector, they recognise and reward excellence in craft butchery and winners enter an exclusive group representing the crème de la crème of British butchery.
Mark Turnbull said: “To win our second high profile awards in the space of two weeks is a major achievement and a tremendous boost for us. These successes could not have been achieved without the support and dedication of the entire Turnbull’s team, who will go that extra mile to help our customers. They are a real credit to the business.”. The success for the Market Street shop followed hot on the heels of thier Smithfiled success, which you can read about inside.
AT A CEREMONY IN BUTCHERS HALL, LONDON, TV CHEF AND RESTAURATEUR BRIAN TURNER PRESENTED THE AWARDS TO FATHER-AND-SON BUTCHERS JOHN AND MARK TURNBULL.
Turnbull’s Bring Home the Bacon!
NOVEMBER 2009
It will be pre-Christmas celebrations all round for Turnbull’s of Alnwick, who have just lifted much of the silverware in the Q Guild’s 2009 Smithfield Awards.
Turnbull’s prizes included two gold and three silver awards, a diamond award, the BPEX Award (British Pork Executive) and the overall supreme prize.
Turnbull’s diamond award-winning product was in the bacon & cured product category, where the business came out on top with its garlic & chilli dry-cured bacon, which then went on to win the top BPEX Award, before securing the overall supreme accolade. The judges said it was an amazing product and awarded it top marks of 100.
The awards are among the most highly coveted in the meat industry and a true indication of excellence. More than 500 products from Q members throughout the UK were assessed by an independent panel of experts.
At a ceremony in Butchers Hall, London, TV chef and restaurateur Brian Turner presented the awards to father-and-son butchers John and Mark Turnbull.
