Annual Salary
£18,000 to £26,000
Average UK salary in 2023 was £34,963
(source Office for National Statistics)
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Butchers prepare and sell meat and poultry, and make meat products like sausages, burgers and pies.
Average UK salary in 2023 was £34,963
(source Office for National Statistics)
You could work: evenings / weekends / bank holidays; on a rota
There will be
4.8% fewer Butcher jobs in 2027.
On a typical day you could:
You may need to wear protective clothing and a uniform.
You could work in a factory or at a store.
Your working environment may be cool and physically demanding.
You can get into this job through:
You could do a college course, which would teach you some of the skills and knowledge you need in this job.
Relevant subjects include:
You'll usually need:
You could get into this job by doing a Butcher Level 2 Intermediate Apprenticeship, then move on to the Butcher Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship.
Each apprenticeship takes around 1 year and 6 months to complete.
You'll usually need:
You can start as a trainee in a butcher's shop and learn on the job. Knowledge of the meat trade or experience in food retailing may help you to find a trainee position.
You'll need to:
Any experience you have of working in retail, customer service, food preparation or catering will be useful for this career.
You could join the Institute of Meat or the National Craft Butchers for professional development and training.
You can get more advice about becoming a butcher from Tasty Careers.
With experience you could:become a manager in a butcher’s shop, farm shop or supermarket; specialise in particular product types like organic or cured meats; take further training to become a master butcher; move into catering, meat manufacturing or wholesaling; set up your own business
You could also work at the Food Standards Agency, checking quality and standards in abattoirs and meat plants.
You'll need: