It’s Good News Friday as we celebrate the fantastic collaboration between McAtamney’s Butchers and the North West Regional College!

Next month, NWRC will launch its first-ever professional butchery course, an exciting course that will see this vital trade being passed on to the next generation. Oran, Declan, and Mark McAtamney, the father-son team who lead the renowned butchery, will be lecturers for this fantastic programme that combines the expertise of two of our valued Chamber members.

Speaking earlier this week to a local newspaper, Oran said that he is very excited to begin teaching the course. “My two young boys are going to be doing it. I have the skills for the older style of butchering, whereas they know the modern stuff. There are many skills that make a successful butcher including critical knife skills, an understanding about a range of meat species.”

Further Education courses like these provide local students with the skills, training, and resources they need to begin a bright career in the food sector. Industries such as butchery need to bring in the next generation, and Oran is hoping that this new course will help fill a skills gap. “People say there is no work, well the butchers need the staff, they are crying out for it”, he said. “Butchery is dying and it’s the same problem; the skills are not there. The course is there to fill that gap and get a lot of younger ones interested in butchery.”

NWRC Curriculum Manager, Leyonia Devay, said the course would give students vital opportunities in the food sector. “Our students will be learning from the best, these me who have been working in this industry all their lives. This is a highly skilled course, but one that will be highly beneficial to anyone currently working in or considering a career in the food sector.”

Skills and education are integral to the continued growth of the North West economy. Addressing the skills gap, especially in sectors such as food, construction, and medicine, will be key to our region’s long-term economic growth.  As we look to bounce-back from Covid-19, partnerships such as these show what can be achieved when the local business community works together in aid of a common goal. We congratulate NWRC and McAtamney’s and look forward to seeing the first cohort take shape!

Finally, also this week, Economy Minister Gordon Lyons MLA announced the first of two Assured Skills Welding Academies at NWRC. It is fantastic to see the continuation of these academies that provide the skills, training and high-quality talent businesses need to grow their workforce and expand their offering.

For more information on the professional butchery course, visit: LINK. For information and details on how to apply to the Assured Skills Welding Academy, visit: LINK.