A 33 YEAR-old family butcher’s business has followed up a £250,000 investment with a new image and new high-quality range of meat products.

Husband and wife Robert and Jo Atkinson established R&J Catering Butchers in Kirkby Malzeard, near Ripon, in 1978, supplying the Yorkshire- wide hospitality sector with meat products, including from its own herd of cattle.

In 2003, they were joined in the business by their son Ryan who, now aged 27, has worked his way up to become general manager.

He said: “We are entering a new era with an altogether sharper identity and much clearer and defined focus on where we are going as a business.”

The company has changed its name to R&J – Yorkshire's Finest Farmers & Butchers, and a new logo featuring a white rose now appears on all delivery vehicles, uniforms and packaging.

It has also unveiled its Waterford House Farm brand, a new signature range of high-end meat products.

Company chairman Robert said: “It conveys the importance we place on the quality and flavour of prime beef straight from our pastures, supplemented by other prime meat, poultry and game products supplied through our co-operative members.

“These are local farmers and estates – most within 15 miles of our headquarters – who we have worked in partnership with since our formation, all chosen for their focus on taste, free grazing and animal welfare.

“It is a measure of the value we place on the quality of our signature range that every Waterford House Farm packet is stamped with the name of our home. It’s produced to a standard we have evolved over more than three decades. No Governmentdefined standard comes close.”

The meat is hung on the bone for a minimum of 30 days to properly mature and develop the rich flavour customers expect. From its beginnings in a converted barn, the business has grown into one of the principal suppliers of meat products to pubs, hotels and restaurants across the North, including some of the leading restaurants and chefs.

Mr and Mrs Atkinson are still heavily involved in the business, but with their son as general manager, have more time to spend on rearing the livestock on their farm.

Mrs Atkinson said: “Since Ryan joined the team, business has truly boomed. His enthusiasm, energy and rapport with the chefs at restaurants across the region has taken R&J into a new era. We are proud of him and our business can only go from strength to strength.”

The £250,000 investment will double the size of its 5,000 sq ft EU-approved Longswales Lane meat production unit and should be completed early next year.

The firm has already increased its workforce by five to 18 this year, and Ryan said: “We are confident of creating more new jobs and providing a further boost to the regional economy, as our planned and carefullycontrolled programme of expansion and development continues.”