Shaw The Butcher, Glasgow

Through the years Donnie worked with some of the finest butchers gaining vast experience from them all. Then Donnie Shaw returned to where it all began to take over from Douglas Sillars …………The Apprentice comes home.

Donnie Shaw moved on to work for Neil Howard in Shawlands and then to Alex McDougall's shop in Duke Street, Glasgow. When he mentioned to his father that a shop along the road was for sale, his father went out and bought it!

The shop only had a three foot cabinet and a marble slab but having spent all the funds on purchasing the business there was nothing left to refurbish. A £5000 loan from the bank meant two display cabinets were acquired and new lighting was installed. Turnover increased eight fold as a result of better presentation and by offering good value. Instant success came after a considerable degree of persistent self promotion in the likes of local hairdressers.

Everything was going well until 1996 when a new shopping centre opened at The Forge opened. Sales dropped and Donnie moved on to manage a shop owned by his old boss Neil Howard, then subsequently to two other butchers. Experience proved that when the job was done properly and customers' needs were met there was still potential in the independent butchery sector. Then in 2015 Donnie got an offer that he just couldn't refuse.

Douglas Sillars, his manager at RJ Paterson in Balornock, wanted to retire and so 36 years after starting there from school, Donnie allowed his old boss to fulfil an ambition to retire to Lanzarote.

The shop was always well supported by the local community and when he opened for business on 30th April 2015, as one of their own, Donnie enjoyed the same measure of support. He spent money on a new floor and a new awning but it was the meat and meat products that kept the customers coming.

Those customers enjoyed the personal attention and friendly approach. Donnie is an enthusiast when it comes to new tastes and new products and he is fortunate that is matched by a great willingness of his customers to try anything new.

For a not too large shop in the north east of Glasgow, Shaw the Butchers sustains jobs for Donnie and five members of staff.

The team consists of Ross, Helen, Emma, Jacqueline, Robyn Suzanne, Shelley and trainee Stuart. Donnie's wife Margaret deals with HR and bookkeeping but the main man is very visible every time you visit and he is very much the character of the business.

Beef and lamb comes from JF Finlay in Wishaw, pork and bacon from Robertsons in Ardrossan and Chicken from John Vallance at Glasgow Market. Great pride is taken in the production of meat products. The range of sausages includes steak & onion, steak slice, pork, pork & leek, and his award winning Ploughmans sizzler which is a blend of pork, pickle and cheddar cheese. There is an equally strong range of pastry products – scotch pies, bridies, steak pies, sausage rolls, chicken pies, curry pies and mince rounds.

Donnie has enjoyed a remarkable surge in fortunes since he introduced trendy world food recipes. He has introduced the likes of coffee and black pepper beef strips and fire chicken.

His Donnie kebabs – his take on Turkish donner meat – have also proved popular with customers. His slogan of his passion to your plate is an accurate portrayal of all the love and attention he devotes to his meat products.

Given his interest in food and recipes it is no surprise that Donnie got down to the last 20 in the Channel Four programme Come Dine with Me but for the customers visiting his Wallacewell Road shop, Come Shop with Me is what they are tuned into.

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