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Game dealer wins King’s Award for Enterprise
Willo Game, a leading Shropshire game dealer has been presented with the King’s Award for Enterprise 2024 for outstanding achievement in international trade.
Operations director Will Oakley attended a presentation with the King at Windsor Castle earlier this year. This month, the Lord Lieutenant of Shropshire, Anna Turner, visited the company premises in Norbury, Bishops Castle to formally present the award.
Willo Game's history
The current business came into being in July 2017 when Willo’s original small game processing plant was closing.
Wayne Tuffin, who runs several shoots in the area, realised there would be nowhere within 100 miles to process shot game. As a result, he enlisted the support of around 160 like-minded people, who invested around £3,000 each. With that seed capital, they bought the business.
How does Willo Game operate?
Willo Game now has five directors with backgrounds in the law, meat production, game processing, shooting, and treatment of hazardous waste products. The company made a substantial loss in year one but has been profitable ever since and reinvests everything it makes into improving the business. This year, it has completed the installation of a cold store which now holds approximately 500 pallets of frozen game.
The company has 14 full-time employees, rising to 35 during the shooting season. Willo Game collects game from around 250 shoots over a wide area of England, with collection hubs in the West Country and Yorkshire.
Fully traceable game
Company secretary and finance director John Burrowes said: “We process around 1.75 million birds and more than 10,000 head of venison each year. Willo Game sells around 60 per cent of their produce abroad to the Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Hong Kong and Denmark, among others. The remainder goes throughout the UK to independent butchers, Michelin-starred restaurants, cruise ships, and online sales to the public. Anything we cannot process and sell goes into the pet food market.
“Well over 70 per cent of what we receive goes for human consumption.”
The King’s Award gave Willo Game an opportunity to publicise what they do and be able to tell customers what happens to the game they shoot. It is also good to have some positive news on the shooting front.
Will Oakley added: “We have just taken on eight extra staff this week to process orders. Brexit was a bit of a nightmare at first with all the new documentation required. But we now have the procedures in place, everything is going very well and this award is something to celebrate.”
The King's Awards for Enterprise
The King’s Awards for Enterprise are rewarded for outstanding achievement by UK businesses and organisations in the following categories:
- innovation
- international trade
- sustainable development
- promoting opportunity through social mobility
The awards are valid for five years and a business which receives one is invited to a Royal reception. The business owner is presented with the award by one of The King’s representatives – a Lord Lieutenant.
The business can fly The King’s Awards flag at the main office and use the emblem on marketing materials. They also receive a Grant of Appointment (a certificate) and a commemorative crystal trophy.
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