Briggsy’s Butchers is based in the Scottish market border town of Jedburgh and owned by young forward-thinking butcher 23-year-old Ryan Briggs, who says “Beltex lamb is key to the success of our business.”

Customers return to purchase our lamb as they know the consistency of our products that Beltex lamb guarantees.

Ryan buys all the lamb for the shop from St Boswells mart and he commented: “It is important for me to handle the lambs; I can then be certain that what we are buying will suit our customers’ requirements.”

Since taking the butchers shop in Jedburgh on in March 2020, Ryan has increased the sales from the shop both in store and online it is the quality of the Beltex lamb he purchases that he attributes to increasing his total lamb sales by 20% in two years.

Ryan said: “With Beltex lamb we are able to use the fore quarter for more cuts than any other breed. The shoulders and loins from the Beltex are fantastic and customers really enjoy the quality of our lamb chops with the fine bone, small amount of fat and large eye muscle.”

Briggsy’s Butchers have developed a different way of selling legs of lamb by cutting them into steaks, Ryan believes the steaks from a Beltex leg of lamb is outstanding as fine seams of fat run through the muscles enabling the leg joint to be cut many different ways. Ryan added: “By steaking the legs this means the customer has a lower price in the weekly shop than buying a half or whole leg, and Beltex lamb is ideal for lamb leg steaks.”

Ryan recognises that lamb has increased in price substantially in the last 12 months and this young innovative butcher aims to develop lamb products to meet the needs of the modern consumer.

Ryan said: “In the shop we serve ready meals that can cook in half an hour and due to Beltex lambs’ texture and tenderness and low-fat content, we can utilise lamb in our ready meals.”

Ryan Briggs believes the future for independent butchers is good as they can purchase quality products and meet customers’ requirements more easily than supermarkets.

“It is difficult for supermarkets to sell the quality of lamb we sell in the shop as there is not the volume of Beltex lamb to supply them, but as an independent butcher I can source top quality Beltex lambs at St Boswells mart each week to meet our requirements at Briggsy’s Butchers,” Ryan pointed out.

Briggsy’s Butchers have a large following on social media and Ryan added: “Our Facebook page is very important to our business, we particularly like using videos as this allows us to interact with our customers and show what new products we have on offer. We also have a website where all our products sold in the shop can also be purchased online.”