Pleased to meat you…

There’s no gimmickry here, just quality produce wrapped in paper bags and handed over with a smile. It’s refreshingly old school, the kind of shop where everyone’s on first-name terms and the welcome is as genuine as the cuts on the counter.

Tom’s the sort of man who’s already done a full day’s work before most of us have found the kettle. “I’m up at three,” he chirps. “Been like that all my life. My dad used to say, ‘Plenty of time to rest when you’re underground.’” He laughs — and I believe him. This isn’t just a butcher; this is a man on a mission.

Before moving to Colne, Tom spent eight and a half years running his business in Blackburn, but the shine had worn off. “I was paying a fortune in rent for a tiny space and was limited to what I could sell. “It was daft. I was paying a fortune to be told how to run my own business. It got to the point where I thought, if I’m going to graft like this, I may as well do it on my own terms.”

“I’ve been a farmer all my life,” he says, “so I’ve grown up knowing the process from the ground up.”

So when a shop became available in Colne, he didn’t hesitate. “It reminded me of my youth,” he says. “I learned my trade in Clitheroe, and Colne’s got that same feel – tidy, quirky, full of character, proper old buildings. This place has everything: a cellar, a store room, and space for fridges. It just felt right.”

He made the right choice. Since opening on 1st October, Tom’s shop has been heaving every day – queues out the door, chatter in the line, and that old-fashioned hum of community you don’t get in supermarkets. “Whatever I put out, it flies out,” he says. “People around here know good meat when they see it.”

Tom’s no ordinary butcher. He’s a master butcher — which, at first, I assumed was a bit like being a meat wizard! “I’ve been a farmer all my life,” he says, “so I’ve grown up knowing the process from the ground up. I’ve shown cows, done slaughtering, even captained Team GB in international butchery competitions — New Zealand, Australia, you name it.”

Yes, that’s right — butchery competitions. They’re real, and Tom’s competed (and won) at the highest level (World Butchers’ Challenge in Australia’s Gold Coast and AHDB Pork Awards Champion to name just two). He grins as he tells me about it, clearly more comfortable wielding a cleaver than a trophy, but proud all the same.

“I cut everything fresh. That’s how it should be.”

His dad, Jimmy, is a farmer — and a formidable one — and his mum, Vikki, has been right there beside him through it all. “We’ve got two farms,” Tom says. “We breed cattle, pigs, lambs — around a thousand animals a week go through my dad’s factory. Everything’s British and traceable. That’s why I still buy all my meat from him. I know exactly where it’s from.”

It shows. Every joint, chop, and sausage in his display looks like it’s auditioning for a food commercial — glossy, plump, and frankly a bit indecent.” No Plastic. No Pretence. “I don’t do pre-packed meat,” he says firmly. “When you buy that stuff from a supermarket, it’s been cut, smoked, chilled, sealed, and shipped — sometimes it’s two weeks old before it even hits the shelf. I cut everything fresh. That’s how it should be.”

He’s passionate about supporting British farmers, too. “I am one!” he laughs. “You can’t fake freshness, and people are realising that. More customers are returning to traditional practices — buying local, batch cooking, and making their food stretch. It’s not just nostalgia; it makes sense. I can do treacle bacon, beef cheeks, smoked cuts, shin beef with bone in — all the proper stuff you can’t get in a plastic tray. I want to put on a real show for people.”
Watching Tom at work isn’t dissimilar to abstract live theatre, true artistry.

“People have been brilliant. Customers are coming from Blackburn, Nelson, Skipton, and over the border.”

He also plans to offer butchery masterclasses soon — “Once I’ve caught my breath,” he says, laughing. “I want to get people behind the block, show them how to cut meat properly. It’s an art form,” he smiles as he nonchalantly slams a cow’s legs on the block, ready to start work.
Tom’s drive clearly comes from his dad, who built a successful wholesale meat business, Bowland Foods from scratch.
That determination runs deep. “I don’t want to go bigger just for the sake of it,” Tom says. “I’d rather be busy, happy, and doing what I love and build something solid, something that lasts.”

So how’s Colne treating him? “I’ve been overwhelmed,” he says. “People have been brilliant. Customers are coming from Blackburn, Nelson, Skipton, and over the border. Everyone’s been talking about the shop — it’s proper community stuff.”
He’s not wrong. When I’ve been in, there’s always a queue, but no one minds. People chat, swap recipes, and ask what’s fresh. You leave with your dinner sorted and a few new friends.
That, I think, is the secret — Tom’s not just selling meat. He’s selling connection, tradition, with a slice of nostalgia, too.

Tom Wood, Artisan Butcher
Albert Road, Colne. BB8 OLJ

Call 01282 942368

info@tomwoodartisanbutcher.co.uk
Open Monday–Saturday,
early ‘til the meat runs out

Insta – @artisan.butcher or Facebook – tomwood.shop