Two Other Winners at David Black Award Event

UK - In addition to the David Black Award itself, two other key players in the UK pig industry were honoured at a special event in London yesterday, 27 October. Butcher, Paul Turner, won the annual award for Services to the British Sausage Industry, and Mick Sloyan was presented with The Pig Industry Distinguished Service Award.
calendar icon 28 October 2010
clock icon 5 minute read

Top Award for Heroes' Helper

Helping heroes helped Aldershot butcher, Paul Turner, win a major award for Services to the British Sausage Industry.

Mr Turner, from A. Turner & Sons, is not someone who simply rests on the sales from his shop.


Paul Turner

He saw his customers, in the home of the British Army, were more than happy to pay a few pence more for sausages knowing that the money raised would go to Help for Heroes, so Paul thought big.

He licensed the production of Hare of the Hog and the Pickled Pig sausages to a volume manufacturer in persuaded the UK's largest retailer to stock them for four months at 20 stores.

In addition he persuaded the UK's third largest food-service distributor to stock the sausages in catering-sized cases.

To date, the sausages have raised more than £10,000 for Help for Heroes. Mr Turner is keen that other multiple retailers and food-service businesses stock the sausages either for a short sales period or on a permanent basis.

The sausages themselves have both recently received Gold Awards in the BPEX British Sausage Week Competition and the Foodservice Sausage of the Year where they were judged blind alongside up to 240 other sausages.

Working closely with BPEX Foodservice during British Sausage Week, up to 1,000 of our armed forces coming home from Afghanistan will sit down to enjoy that true British classic meal of sausage and mash at Catterrick Barracks in North Yorkshire at a Bangers for Cash fund raising lunch for Help for Heroes.

BPEX Director Mick Sloyan said: "Everybody has been moved by the stories of the bravery of our armed forces over the last few years. "Paul has done a magnificent job and is a very worthy winner of this year's award for Service to the Sausage Industry.

"He has helped raise thousands of pounds for our armed forces and created some magnificent sausages into the bargain."

Mr Turner said: "I am very proud to receive this award but that is not why I did it - I just wanted to give something back for what the troops had done.

"It was hard work getting everything in place to manufacture and sell the sausages on a wider basis but it was really worth the effort."

Paul Turner is now looking to launch another sausage in the New Year, a simple but classic plain pork sausage to be called the Best of British which, again, will be sold to raise funds for Help for Heroes.

Award for BPEX Director


Mick Sloyan

BPEX Director, Mick Sloyan, was been presented with an award for his distinguished service to the pig industry.

The National Pig Association has been keen to acknowledge the contribution he has made but found Mick less than willing to accept it.

NPA Chairman Stewart Houston said: "Three times now, Mick has been nominated for the David Black Award and three times his name has not gone forward for consideration.

"The NPA has been keen to acknowledge the huge contribution he has made to the industry but, as chairman of the judges, he has disqualified himself each time.

"This time he can't! The Pig Industry Distinguished Service Award is a one-off that has been organised entirely without his knowledge and there's nothing he can do about it.

"His position at the head of BPEX has highlighted his strategic thinking helping guide the industry through difficult times - the concept of the first pig strategy, the Road to Recovery, was his and he must take his share of the credit that the industry came through those dark days of the last decade.

"The pig industry is seen in Government circles as having a 'can do' attitude and Mick too has that same attitude. If he believes the industry will benefit, he will do his utmost to make it happen.

"Mick is internationally respected, not only for his knowledge of our industry but also for his depth of understanding of the pig industry worldwide.

"He is highly regarded in the International Meat Secretariat where he is Vice-chairman of the Pork Committee.

"Though his expertise covers the whole pig industry, he does have a special interest in the processing sector where he championed the introduction of Autofom to the UK – a system that uses ultrasonic scanning to determine the distribution of lean meat and fat in carcasses.

"Mick's service to the pig industry stretches over more than three decades and he is still as enthusiastic, dedicated and determined as ever."

Further Reading

- Go to our other report from the David Black Award event by clicking here.
© 2000 - 2024 - Global Ag Media. All Rights Reserved | No part of this site may be reproduced without permission.