Tom Courts Quality Foods – September 2012

According to the tourist website Visit Scotland, Cowdenbeath is a former mining town in west Fife, between Dunfermline and Cupar. The iron and coal mines closed in the 1960s, to be replaced by light industry. Those 28 words are all that it has to say about the town itself although the racewall at Central Park gets a mention elsewhere.

The Big Apple's principle recreation area of the same name attracts millions of visitors but Fife's alternative has nothing like as many visitors. Very possibly the greatest attraction in Cowdenbeath is Tom Courts Quality Foods. It is an immensely impressive butcher's shop that draws custom from well outside the town and its unique design attracts many visitors from within its own industry.

The shop is a triple fronted unit with new signage and livery installed in February 2011. It does not have a traditional window display as such but instead has the main internal display cabinets set back thus creating a large customer area that can accommodate the large footfall that flows through on a daily basis. The shop can accommodate in excess of 60 customers at one time.

The large window area is utilised with graphics highlighting recent competition successes for Potted Meat and Pork Sausages. Two flat-screen monitors promote special offers, initiatives and seasonal events.

Following an expansion and complete refit into adjoining units in 2005, the shop became one of the first in the UK to be completely open plan, total floor area 3500 square feet. With a 'We have nothing to hide policy' their customers can observe all the functions of the shop from sausage production to meat preparation etc. This essentially makes Tom Courts' customers part of his team as their ability to view the production area engages them in the supervision element to ensure that all staff work to the highest standards at all times.

Customer confidence is greatly boosted by the complete openness of the shop. it has total separation between raw and ready to eat processes and was way ahead of its time when first launched. The floor coverings and ceiling tiles are antibacterial. No surprise to discover that in 2010 the shop became the first butchers in Scotland to achieve an Eat Safe Award from the Food Standards Agency.

The shop has a futuristic look with the wall coverings and fridge exteriors clad in stainless steel. Bespoke lighting was provided by Baro and CCTV covers the customer and production areas and can be viewed by management via the web from anywhere in the world.

Customers can access the shop via the butchery with a natural flow to the deli/bakery and on to the café.

The café has a separate entrance, which also allows access to the deli/bakery and butchers. The shop entrances provide disabled access, with the café also providing gents, ladies, disabled and baby changing facilities.

Butchers/Bakery/Deli have a 15 metre continuous run of Arneg serve over display cabinets. The butchery section alone holds 96 display trays with a selection of
top quality scotch beef, pork, lamb and chicken ranging from traditional cuts, kitchen ready products, stir fry's, special offers and seasonal produce. Displays are always well maintained with professionally cut fresh meat and meat products.

The Bakery/Deli section has a wide selection of cold meats many of which are manufactured on the premises, with their award winning Potted Hough selling 3000 units per week. They also make a wide selection of pastry products that are baked fresh throughout the day. These include their Scotch Pies, runner up in the World Scotch Pie Championship 2010, their 2012 Diamond Award Winning Steak Bridies(best in Scotland) and their 2012 Gold Award Winning Sausage Rolls. There's a filled roll/baguette counter which sells over 300 units per day. The bakery/deli also has three wall fridges for the sale of homemade ready meals, pre-packed goods and drinks and there is also a wall freezer for the sale of homemade steak pies and soups.

The Coffee Shop has a bespoke made, serve over counter incorporating two chilled displays and a hot food section.

The shop currently employs 23 staff as compared with five when Tom took the business over in 2003. They are one of the biggest private employers in the town, second only to the nearby Morrisons' Supermarket. Tom Courts Quality Foods take part in all the initiatives relevant to the meat trade including Burns Night, Valentine's Day, National Butchers Week, National Sausage Week and various other seasonal campaigns. They also make good use of the literature, posters and point of sale materials supplied by SFMTA throughout the year.

A junior staff member John Day was runner up in Britain's Young Butcher of the Year. All the more remarkable since he left school in 2007 before completing his secondary education. He now runs the manufacturing side of the business and makes over one tonne of sausages and puddings per week, all of which are sold over the counter. He won Scotland's Best Pork Sausage 2011-12 and Scotland's Best Speciality Burger 2012 – a Spicy Chicken Burger with a recipe he devised.

Tom Courts works extremely hard, putting in excessive hours with a near obsessive passion all to ensure that the job is done right and customers' expectations can continue to rise. His knowledge of sales, costs and complete financial management undoubtedly contribute to the success.

It is a very welcoming shop where customers are warmly greeted as friends. The shop has an airy feel, clean ambience and is a very worthy contender in this year's Scotland's Butcher Shop of the Year.