Andrew Brassington of Ludlow Food Centre and Kyle Mottram of Keelham Farm Shop in Bradford have been chosen to represent the UK at the competition this year, which takes place in May.

The competition is organised by the International Butchers Confederation (IBC) and recognised as one of the most prestigious competitions – of its type – throughout the world.

Andrew and Kyle, both 22, will compete in six categories against other 18- to 20-year-olds from Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. The UK team members have been trained by the National Federation of Meat and Food Traders (NFMFT) and have received financial backing from sponsors such as Eblex, the Meat Training Council, Weddel Swift and the Worshipful Company of Butchers.

The pair trained at Leeds City College, which provided facilities for four intensive training sessions, which were held over for months. Meanwhile meat industry personality, artisan butcher and advocate of craft training Viv Harvey provided vital mentoring and expert tuition on behalf of the RAPS organisation.

Travelling with Viv and the team for the competition in Frankfurt on the 3-4 of May is third team member Ryan Healy of Geoff Riley’s Butchers, Lancashire and Bpex product manager Keith Fisher, who will represent the UK on the international jury of judges.

Federation president Michael Beaumont said: "This is the best resourced team to represent the UK in the competition to date and I am sure everyone in the industry will be supporting Andrew and Kyle in their attempt to improve on the performance of our team last year".