NCB Members

We are asking you to participate in an important survey concerning beef production.

The purpose of the survey is to provide the BeefQ - Beef Eating Quality project with an understanding of the wider beef industry's current perception of beef eating quality and the desire for a shift from current methods of valuing beef to one based on predicted eating quality, how this could be implemented in practice, and the barriers perceived in doing so.

The BeefQ project is funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development through the Welsh Government, to develop and test a beef eating quality prediction system for Wales.  The eating quality potential of cattle is determined at conception and maintaining that potential to ensure delivery of a consistent, quality beef eating experience to consumers, involves everyone subsequently involved in the beef supply chain. 

The BeefQ project has been working with industry partners to develop a system to predict the eating quality of beef during processing – this information, as demonstrated very successfully in countries such as Australia, can be used to guarantee a specific eating quality experience to consumers and therefore build greater confidence in the product. 

The BeefQ project is now consulting with the broader beef industry to identify, if and how a beef eating quality prediction and reward system could be implemented in the UK. 

To contribute your views – please complete the following short survey by
30^th April 2021.
http://www.beefq.wales/survey.html

A bi-monthly BeefQ Newsletter can also be viewed and subscribed to at:  

http://www.beefq.wales/newsletter.html

BBC’s Blue Peter has dramatically dropped its meat free message to children following a joint letter from AHDB, QMS and HCC.

National Craft Butchers entirely supported this stance from the levy bodies and are happy to see them speak for the industry and thousands of Butchers!

Read the joint letter here:

An open letter from AHDB, QMS and HCC in response to CBBC Blue Peter’s Green Badge campaign

he iconic BBC children’s TV show Blue Peter has asked viewers to become part of a ‘green army’ to tackle carbon emissions and climate change. Recommendations to earn a Green Badge include encouraging children to take the ‘Supersize Plants Pledge’ and replacing red meat dishes with “climate friendly” plant-based alternatives.

Citing phrases including “reducing the amount of meat you eat, especially beef and lamb, is known to be even better for the climate than reducing the amount you travel in a car”[1] is incorrect, misleading and based on widely-debunked data. This unbalanced reporting risks compromising the integrity of the red meat produced in the UK to the consumers of the future.

It is essential that young people learn and understand where their food comes from and its impact on the planet, and the Green Badge campaign presents an opportunity to share the fantastic credentials of the British red meat industry, which is amongst the most sustainable in the world and supports the livelihoods of thousands of people.

As a public service broadcaster, the BBC has a responsibility to provide an impartial argument. This is all the more important when communicating to children

Blue Peter also promotes the Carbon Calculator, a simplistic tool that cites global data not representative of the UK’s red meat industry.

Some of the fantastic initiatives happening right now in farms across the country include conducting regular carbon audits to manage and offset emissions; avoiding ploughing, drainage and over grazing; creating wildlife corridors along water margins, field margins and headlands, taking action to control soil and achieving net zero across the industry in England and Wales by 2040 and by 2045 in Scotland

The highest volume of CO₂ is produced by the fossil fuel industries, with livestock farming contributing just 6% of the UK’s CO₂ emissions[2]. Given this statistic, cutting your individual meat consumption would in fact not reduce the UK’s overall CO₂ emissions nearly as significantly as structural changes in the energy and transport sectors such as encouraging families to walk, cycle and use public transport.

Furthermore, the minerals and vitamins found in red meat should form an important part of a growing young person’s diet. Iron from meat sources is more readily absorbed by the human body compared with iron found in other non-meat sources. A lack of iron may result in a deficiency, increasing the risk of anaemia. Severe iron deficiency may also increase the risk of developing complications to the heart and lungs.

As it stands, 42% of teenage girls fail to achieve the minimum iron intake and 22% of teenage girls don’t get enough zinc[3], which is essential in supporting a healthy immune system.

We would welcome the opportunity to share the positive messages from the red meat industry.  Sharing information with young people about the techniques and processes in place to make sure farming in the UK is not at the detriment to the wider environment is also essential in helping them form their own opinions and consumption habits. A good place to start is Farming Foodsteps, an online resource developed by professionals specifically for school-aged children which explores the red meat journey and includes sustainability and health messaging.

These stories must be shared, and we ask that the BBC and Blue Peter to reconsider their one-sided messaging and provide an opportunity for the heads of the UK’s red meat industry bodies to meet with the head of children’s programming to shed light on the positive messages.  

Yours faithfully,

Alan Clarke, Chief Executive of Quality Meat Scotland (QMS)

Christine Watts, Chief Communications Officer of Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB)

Gwyn Howells, Chief Executive of Hybu Cig Cymru / Meat Promotion Wales (HCC

[1] The pitfalls of simplification when looking at greenhouse gas emissions from livestock, Thomson Reuters Foundation News, 2018 https://news.trust.org/item/20180918083629-d2wf0

[2] CIEL, Integrated Report, 2020 - http://annual-report.cielgroup.com/

[3] Iron and Health, Scientific Commission on Nutrition, 2010 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/339309/SACN_Iron_and_Health_Report.pdf   

Notice of Annual General Meeting

National Federation of Meat and Food Traders

trading as National Craft Butchers

Company number: 00067142

Registered Office: 1 Belgrove, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN1 1YW

Dear Member

National Federation of Meat and Food Traders Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held by Zoom on 29 June 2021 at 10.30 am, we will send you a separate email invitation with a link to access the meeting and password details. Please ensure that you are technically enabled to attend the meeting in advance of this time. If you are concerned about set-up arrangements, please contact the office on 01892 541 412.

The meeting will be chaired by John Mettrick.

All members are welcome to attend the AGM.

During the AGM, those members entitled to vote will be asked to consider and vote on the resolutions set out below and as usual, we will hold the AGM, in compliance with the rules set out in our Memorandum and Articles of Association.

RESOLUTIONS

1. The following resolutions are set to be proposed at the AGM

• The assessment of the director's report
• Review of accounts for the 2020 financial year
• The appointment of two new directors.

By order of the National Federation of Meat and Food Traders Board

John Mettrick

John Mettrick acting on half of National Federation of Meat and Food Traders

26 March 2021

NOTE:

Members who are entitled to attend and vote at are entitled to appoint a proxy if they can’t attend the members meeting. A proxy can exercise any of your rights to attend, speak and vote at the meeting.

Proxies do not need to be members of National Craft Butchers, but they must be appointed by you not less than 72 hours before the meeting.

NCB Launches Abattoir Survey

National Craft Butchers has launched an Abattoir Survey and is hoping to receive responses from Small and Medium Abattoirs throughout the UK. 

National Craft Butchers were founding members of the Campaign for Local Abattoirs and more recently the Abattoir Sector Group. The aim of these groups is to ensure the future of small abattoirs UK wide and we need the input from Abattoirs to be able to do so, currently there is limited data or evidence of the services Small & Local Abattoirs provide to their communities or the value they provide to the industry. There is also limited evidence of the challenges they face both regulatory and economically.

Please make the time to complete as much of this survey as possible, it should take no longer than 15 minutes and could provide valuable information to help your cause.

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/P55K5J7

National Minimum Wage Increase

April will see the beginning of changes to NMW rates, as well as who is entitled to what. In his address to the House of Commons on 26 November 2020, the Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that the Government will be increasing NMW rates in 2021 as normal, and that the age threshold for the National Living Wage (NLW) will be lowered to cover 23-year-olds and above.

The table below highlights this change, showing the current NMW and NLW rates and the upcoming rates that will apply from 1 April 2021:

It is crucial that employers pay their staff the correct minimum wage rates. Failure to do so could result in costly and time-consuming tribunal claims. The Government has also relaunched the naming and shaming scheme, after a two-year pause. This may make employers liable to more stringent penalties if they fail to pay the correct minimum wage to their staff. A list of 139 organisations who failed to pay their staff appropriate minimum wage rates was recently published by Government. Business Minister Paul Scully described this move as a wake-up call to “rogue” employers.

This came after a 2016-18 investigation found that a total of £6.7 million was left unpaid to over 95,000 employees by both large and small organisations across the UK. According to the Government, this offence occurred for a number of reasons; low-paid staff were obligated to cover costs of their work uniforms, training, or parking and employers failing to raise staff pay once they were eligible for a higher wage bracket.

Offending employers have been required to make outstanding wage payments to staff based on current minimum wage rates rather than those in place at that time of the underpayment. In addition, they have paid fines of 200% of the unpaid amount to the Government, at a cap of £10,000 per employee. 

It may be easy for the law to be misconstrued when it comes to minimum wage, especially as it changes on a yearly basis. However, it important that employers keep in mind that the onus remains on them to ensure that they are keeping in line with the law, as made clear by the Government.

Content provided by NCB partner - Peninsula Business Services, offering employment experise to our members. 

Full Members can contact Peninsula 24/7 for Employment and Health & Safety Advice and Support. 

https://www.peninsulagrouplimited.com/

Budget 2021 Key Points for Butchers

There was plenty announced in this weeks Budget, here are a few of the key points for Butchers to keep an eye on as more information and details are released.

• An extension of the Coronavirus Job Support Scheme to September 2021 across the UK.
• An extension of the UK-wide Self Employment Income Support scheme to September 2021, with 600,000 more people who filed a tax return in 2019-20 now able to claim for the first time.
• 750,000 eligible businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors in England will benefit from business rates relief.
• Extension of the apprenticeship hiring incentive in England to September 2021 and an increase of payment to £3,000.
• £7 million for a new “flexi-job” apprenticeship programme in England, that will enable apprentices to work with a number of employers in one sector.
• More than doubling the legal limit for single contactless payments, from £45 to £100
• Small and medium-sized employers in the UK will continue to be able to reclaim up to two weeks of eligible Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) costs per employee from the Government.
• To balance the need to raise revenue with the objective of having an internationally competitive tax system, the rate of Corporation Tax will increase to 25%, which will remain the lowest rate in the G7. In order to support the recovery, the increase will not take effect until 2023. Businesses with profits of £50,000 or less, around 70% of actively trading companies, will continue to be taxed at 19% and a taper above £50,000 will be introduced so that only businesses with profits greater than £250,000 will be taxed at the full 25% rate.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/budget-2021-what-you-need-to-know

Did you defer your VAT due to Covid? If so, now’s the time to start planning!

If you deferred your VAT due to Covid-19, you need to start planning!

Last year, to help businesses who were suffering with cashflow difficulties due to Covid-19, the Government announced that they would defer VAT payments for 12 months.

Now, nearly 12 months later, businesses who did defer their VAT payments need to start planning, as these payments will be due by 31^st March 2021. However, businesses don’t need to worry about being hit with one massive VAT bill. They are able to spread the payments over the year by paying it in 11 interest free instalments. The earlier you join, the more months you can spread your payments across.

If you want to pay by instalments, you need to meet the following criteria:

• Have deferred VAT to pay
• Be up to date with VAT returns
• Opt in before 1 March 2021 (this is not currently open, but will be soon!)
• Pay the first instalment before the end of March 2021
• Be able to pay the deferred VAT by direct debit

Additionally, an online service will open on 23 February 2021 and close on 21 June 2021. When it opens, you can join the scheme online quickly and simply on this link.

For further information about planning your VAT payments, speak to your local AIMS accountant.

Oxford Real Farming Conference Highlights for Small Abattoirs

The small abattoir sector will be encouraged by comments by speakers at the ORFC session on small abattoirs run by SFT. Comments by an American abattoir owner on using animal by-products in manufacture pet food products and composting were very interesting.

Emily Miles, FSA CEO, acknowledged that the one size fits all approach to abattoir regulation needed review and was being looked at under operational transformation. Emily also intimated that government agencies needed to coordinate more in data sharing and in respect of providing consumers with information about their food.

A Pasture Fed Livestock Association supported project on hides to leather from local farms and small abattoirs was encouraging.

Marisa Heath gave an outline of the new Abattoir Sector Group which NCB are members of and asked for interested parties to support the group and involve their local MP’s.

The sector group is looking to help develop an environment where small abattoirs are sustainable into the future so farmers have access to their services and the public have access to local meat.

Subscribe to NCB newsletter for updates - https://www.nationalcraftbutchers.co.uk/subscribe.html

Links to further Information

ORFC – https://orfc.org.uk/

Campaign for Local Abattoirs - https://sustainablefoodtrust.org/key-issues/campaign-for-local-abattoirs/

PFLA - https://www.pastureforlife.org/