AN APPRENTICE programme to teach East Yorkshire youngsters the dying art of butchery is more popular than ever, organisers have said.
Hull pork firm Cranswick has been running the scheme for three years and this time found its 12 vacancies easier than ever to fill.
The aim is to give teenagers a traditional career and a possible job for life.
It is ideal for young people who decide further study is not for them, HR manager Matt Pearson said.
"It's about getting people into manual work and saying it's not beneath them," he said.
"It's a good career path with a good future, and well paid.
"If you put the work in and you're dedicated, there's a career in it – it's Cranswick through and through, really."
The shareholder-owned business has come under fire from Hull East MP Karl Turner for employing foreign workers through Polish-language recruiters.
He said it meant jobs were unavailable to city people.
But managing director Adam Couch countered there was a strong tradition of butchery in eastern Europe, meaning the best talent came from abroad.
The apprenticeships at Cranswick's Preston factory are its attempt to solve the problem.
Harry Scott, 16, joined the programme on leaving Archbishop Sentamu Academy.
"I was a bit of a bad lad at school and they said I wouldn't get anywhere, but here I am," he said.
"It's hard at first because you've not got a clue, but with plenty of help from the trainers it comes gradually and you get faster and more skilful."
Harry will become a trainee butcher after his year-long apprenticeship and can then progress through the ranks, potentially becoming a manager.
Among the first year's intake was 18-year-old Paul Jenkinson, a former pupil at David Lister School.
"I was at a wood yard before this and it was a dead-end job," he said.
"But it's great here and you've always got help."
Mr Pearson hopes the scheme will continue to be popular among young people for years to come.
"Recruitment this year has been the best it's ever been because of word of mouth," he said.
"Kids have been beating the door down to come on the course.
"We want the next generation of butchers trained in our ways."
