James Whelan Butchers to invest €100k in new scholarship program, dedicated to the art and craft of butchery.

This Autumn James Whelan Butchers will launch the first privately certified professional butchery academy. Renowned for their exceptional combination of innovation and tradition, the gold standard in Irish butchers, James Whelan Butchers, is delighted to announce a new, fully accredited scholarship programme to run over three years in James Whelan Butchers shops around the country.

Initially open to 10 candidates, the inaugural year of the Butchery Academy at James Whelan Butchers in partnership with Butchery Excellence Ireland begins on 1st Oct 2016 next. That date will see the beginning of the creation of a new generation of skilled craftsmen and women, focusing on the same fundamental appreciation and respect for the art and craft of butchery that has always been a driving force in this successful Irish company.

There has been an upsurge in the demand for quality apprenticeships in recent years and with the 2016 Leaving Certificate and CAO results just out many young people are looking for alternatives to college degrees.

Looking at the success of applicants who have completed apprenticeship programmes such as the world renowned Audi Apprenticeship Programme and D & D London’s Chef Apprenticeship Programme currently in it’s 10^th year, the Butchery Academy couldn’t have come at a better time for students on the cusp of their career path.

Pat Whelan, CEO of James Whelan Butchers, is a man passionate about the responsibility and importance of training. “The Butchery Academy at James Whelan Butchers is an opportunity for us as a company to select and help shape 10 great people as butchers, to share our ethos with them, and to equip them with the essential skills to ensure there is a new generation of butchers in Ireland as committed to their craft as we are to ours,” says Pat Whelan. “At James Whelan Butchers we have the knowledge and the expertise and want to share these with the next generation of butchers and teach them the art and the skills of the trade, a trade we have dedicated our careers to. I certainly believe that we have a responsibility to communicate those to butchers, either those brand new to the trade or to those who want to invest in themselves and significantly improve their skills.

We have the infrastructure to create a Butchery Academy at James Whelan Butchers that offers students a unique and rewarding experience, one that is exceptional. James Whelan Butchers is investing €100,000 over the course of the scholarship, which is a significant commitment, but I am very excited about getting people excited about butchery as a career.”

In partnership with Butchery Excellence Ireland, the fully accredited Butchery Academy at James Whelan Butchers is a three-year scholarship where, from a practical point of view, the first group of 10 successful candidates will work full-time across selected James Whelan Butchers shops. There they will be trained on the job daily by the most senior experts in the company. Following an in-depth syllabus divided into a series of modules, over the course of their studies, the Butchery Academy scholarship students will then follow rotating placements out into other James Whelan Butchers shops. Working on a continuous assessment system, Butchery Academy students will be working full-time for James Whelan Butchers and will be paid as a full time team member during the course of their studies.

“Our single greatest asset is our great team of people,investing in people is the most worthwhile investment you can make,” says Pat Whelan, CEO of James Whelan Butchers. “As a company, James Whelan Butchers has always fostered a culture of shared learning, and the Butchery Academy at James Whelan Butchers is a natural continuation and extension of that.

In our shops you see our craft coming to life. In any James Whelan Butchers shop it’s not just about exceptional product, but also about creativity, flair, communication and relationship building, just as behind the scenes it is never just about butchery, but also about stockmanship, attention to detail, maturation, physical skill and technique and, ultimately, respect.

Being a butcher is more than just a job. Being a butcher is being a specialist, an expert, a skilled craftsman, someone trusted by your customer. For the Butchery Academy at James Whelan Butchers I want people with an ardent interest in the area to come forward to fill those first 10 positions. I want those bordering on the obsessive, because then we will have the best chance at creating a healthy and dynamic legacy.

For further information or to apply to the Butchery Academy at James Whelan Butchers, see Butchery Academy

Applications should be made by email to info@jwb.ie

Successful candidates through to the next selection round will be called for interview during the third week in September and the Academy start date is the first of October.