Meet the Donald Russell Butchers

Only experts can ensure excellence, and with over 140 years combined experience between them, our butchers are a cut above the rest. All locally trained, our butchers have gathered vast industry knowledge, which explains why the quality of our butchery is so high. The Donald Russell butchery team have developed their own areas of expertise and work together to continually offer you the best of the best.

If you have any questions about the butchery of your order, or if you would like to request a special cut that we don't currently offer in our catalogue, why not contact our Head Butcher, Mark Farquhar, at headbutcher@donaldrussell.co.uk

Alternatively, you can call us on 01467 629666 - our butchers are always happy to speak to you about your requirements.

You can also find out more about our products by clicking on the links below:

About Our Beef | About Our Lamb | About Our Pork | About Our Game
About Our Poultry | About our Fish | About Our Seafood | About Our Veal

Mark Farquhar
Head Butcher
Award-winning butcher Mark Farquhar believes that 'a real love for the job' is what makes the Donald Russell butchers special. Mark himself has enjoyed butchery ever since he started his apprenticeship in Aberdeen in 1983. "I felt right at home with such a hands-on choice of job", he says. "I enjoyed meeting people and learning new skills."

The chance to work with top quality products and carry on innovating led Mark to Donald Russell, where he has been Head Butcher since 2003. His favourite cut is a 5-Bone Rib of Beef. "It's so flavoursome and tender. When we have people round to dinner it looks impressive and it's easy to cook and easy to carve. It's got everything going for it."

Sandy Wyllie
Portion Butchery Manager
Butchery runs in Sandy's family, and his dedication to quality has fuelled him through his 24 years at Donald Russell. As Portion Butchery Manager, Sandy is responsible for every detail in your order's journey from butcher's table to presentation box. "There is no room for compromise," he says, "your order will arrive with you looking as outstanding as it tastes". Sandy's quest for perfection carries on to the dinner table, where he often serves a flavoursome Ribeye Steak, which wins hands down for taste every time in his book.

Calum Howie
Butchery Supervisor
Starting at just 15 years of age, Calum has made his career from perfecting every aspect of butchery. He believes that perfection comes from quality and skill, and he ruthlessly checks every product. "My training has equipped me with the skills to deliver the best, and I like to share my knowledge to allow us to keep on delivering the best." Calum's favourite steak is the true perfectionist's choice; the fillet. "For quality, flavour and the added bonus of leanness you can't go wrong with a Fillet Steak" he says.

Andy Grant
Trade Butchery Supervisor
At Donald Russell we believe that fine dining should be available any day of the week, and this was the original philosophy behind our mail order service. But should you decide that you want a night off from cooking, you can still enjoy a Donald Russell steak at some of the country's top restaurants. That's where Andy Grant steps in. As our Trade Butchery Supervisor he is on hand to ensure the quality of the meat we supply to restaurants is maintained across the board. A fully matured, well marbled ribeye can always be found on Andy's plate, whether at home or in a restaurant. He believes that the ribbon of fat contributes to the exquisite flavour, and has never found one too big yet.

Paul Neish
Portion Butchery Supervisor
After serving his butcher's apprenticeship locally, Paul Neish travelled overseas to practice butchery in France before settling back in Scotland, where he feels the consistency of quality is better. It is Paul's responsibility to ensure that the meat is properly matured before the butchers lay a blade to it. "Maturing the beef is vital for texture and flavour," he says, "but blooming your meat before cooking also contributes greatly to the overall eating experience". Paul's favourite 'eating experience' would have to be a Ribeye Roast with all the trimmings. "You can't beat the flavour the fat gives it" he says.

Iain Matthew
Portion Butchery Team Leader
Iain has played a large part in bringing the 'humbler cuts' like oxtail and shin back to the table, and has also become Donald Russell's resident offal expert. Preparing these cuts to such a high standard is very time consuming, and the sheer skill and dedication his job requires can clearly be seen on any of his expertly butchered cuts. There are other skills in Iain's repertoire too, and his speciality is Lamb Noisettes and Valentines. These delicate morsels have proved a best seller with our customers, but for Iain a Ribeye Steak would always pip them to the post.

Lorna Campbell
Portion Butcher
Lorna Campbell, one of Donald Russell's female butchers, has won many an award for her work. She sought out Donald Russell to continue her career because she felt it was a place for people who are at the top of their game to progress even further. "The quality of the products makes my job a lot easier" she says. "You can guarantee the end result will be excellent." With 28 years experience, she knows what she is talking about, and advises people not to be afraid to ask questions. "A good butcher will be able to pick the perfect cut for their customer" she says.

Tomasz Dadelski
Butchery Trainer
Tomasz found his way to Donald Russell after a lengthy career in Poland, where his role was very hands on and covered all aspects of butchery. He specialised in veal, pork and beef butchery so when he arrived at Donald Russell he was already equipped to start his role as Butchery Trainer. "I teach the trainees skills like boning, rolling and tying, then I make sure they reach Donald Russell's exacting standards before they work unsupervised" he says. Tomasz's approach to butchery is much like his taste in steak: "only the best will do, and it has to be fillet".

Bill McRitchie
Boning Hall Manager
Bill has worked in the North East of Scotland for the whole of his butchery career. After 14 years honing his skills, he came to Donald Russell in 1988 and turned his hand to Quality Control. Responsible for the inspection of our beef, his attention to detail had to be fine tuned as every aspect is under scrutiny. "Anything that does not make the grade is rejected" he says, "so you are guaranteed 100% quality, 100% of the time".

Tomas Petkevicius
Freezer Manager
Tomas believes that Donald Russell is set apart from other butchers by the sheer care that is taken at every stage of the order, by everyone involved. "If you're passionate about your job it is reflected in your work" he says. "Donald Russell breeds passion through its quality." As manager of the freezer, Tomas's job revolves around stock rotation and product selection. "It is vital that stringent quality measures are in place" he says. "That way I can ensure only the best-tasting meat reaches your doorstep".

Romas Jurgutis
Packaging Supervisor
As Packaging Supervisor, Romas works hard to ensure all deadlines are met, so when you place your order you can be confident it will arrive on time, on the day you ask for. As well as despatching orders all over the UK, Romas selects and packs the products into boxes, taking great care to make sure the presentation is excellent. "I enjoy all Donald Russell foods but I would have to go back to my roots and choose a Pork Loin Steak as my favourite" he says, "The flavour is exceptional and they are so versatile."

Secrets of Great Butchery

For years we've challenged anyone to find meat more delicious or tender than ours. We have a tenacious Scottish passion to produce the best meat we can by natural rearing, traditional maturing and expert butchering. At every step, we resolutely demand high standards to ensure that every bite is a real delight.

Butchery
We pride ourselves on the quality of our butchery. Indeed, one of the founders of Donald Russell, John Stone was awarded an MBE for services to the industry after writing the standard text-book for butchers, which set the standards for butchery and is still widely used today.

We believe you should be paying for prime meat, not for fat that needs cutting off before you can start cooking. A typical Donald Russell cut will be beautifully trimmed and free of silverskin and gristle, with all the surplus fat neatly pared away, leaving just what you need for perfect cooking results.

Marbling
Marbling is the term given to the small streaks of fat that are found in muscle tissue. Good marbling in meat creates juiciness and flavour, because it melts during cooking and makes the meat juicy and succulent. Our butchers carefully select meat with excellent marbling, so all the meat you buy form us has wonderful flavour.

Traceability
Every product you receive is labelled with a unique code number. This number is part of a set of records for each animal which gives us a full and detailed history of its diet, health and daily whereabouts from the moment of birth. Should there be any queries or complaints (or even compliments!) about any of our products, we can trace the product back to the original herd or flock and investigate fully to get to the source of the problem. It's a vital system to help us maintain our standards of excellence and constantly improve.

The finest packaging for the finest meat
Donald Russell meat is hermetically sealed in hygienic vacuum packaging. Vacuum packs are easy to handle and take up minimal space in your fridge or freezer. The heavy-weight food-grade vacuum-sealed bags help protect against freezer burn and prevent drying out during defrosting.

Top chefs prefer their meat packed this way because it is a natural way to keep meat fresher for longer. No artificial preservatives or gases are used, and sealed vacuum packs are naturally anti-bacterial because all the oxygen has been removed.

Size and Shape
Meat is a natural product, so the size, thickness and shape may vary, particularly with the smaller cuts such as minute rump and sandwich steaks as well as fillet and pave medallions. This should be regarded as characteristic of its origins rather than a flaw.

How to Choose the Right Steak for Every Occasion

Everyone has different preferences, and every cut of steak has its own unique blend of taste and tenderness. At Donald Russell we want your steak experience to be the best it can be. Use our butcher's guide to choose the steaks that are just right for you and your guests.


Fillet Steak
This regal cut has a reputation as the most tender, elegant steak of all. Carved from the prime matured fillet, this delicate, lightly marbled cut has the neatest appearance and mildest flavour of all our steaks and deserves its premium price tag.

Sirloin Steak
Sirloin is a succulent, marbled steak from the heart of the striploin. It offers the perfect balance of taste, tenderness and value for money. It has a thin covering of fat on the outside to help bring out the full flavour and aroma.

Ribeye Steak
Probably the juiciest steak of all, with a rich, mellow flavour thanks to its characteristic wide ribbon of fat running through the core. This rugged-looking steak is enjoying a huge surge in popularity, thanks to its exceptional flavour.

Pavé Rump Steak
Pavé Rump has the firmest texture and a robust beefy flavour. Pavé is a special cut, often seen on the Continent, which is very lean with a neat presentation. It's a superior cut to the traditional rump steak which usually has sinews left in.