At Town & Country Meats we strive for long working relationships with all our suppliers and customers. Therefore we feel it’s important to know who you’re dealing with here.
All of our team are experts in their fields and with a combined 185 years experience you can be rest assured your in good hands.
From being a teenager on market stalls in Wolverhampton town centre to MD of international meat wholesalers Town & Country meats, Gary’s drive and determination continues to lead the business through escalating growth.
His teenage savings enabled him to invest in his first small market stall in Telford where he stayed for just over a year before the opportunity arose to purchase a stall at a larger scale in a more favourable position. The success of the stall offered further prospect with larger producers and suppliers which evolved into Town & Country offering wholesale goods and mobile market vehicles.
As the business grew, Gary invested in refrigerated industrial units and transport to solidify the wholesale side of the business. Today, Town & Country meats has 25,000 square feet of BRC accredited meat storage across three sites for both frozen and chilled meat, serving many of the UK major retailers.
In addition, the business grew to import beef from South America for numerous channels in the food service industry and now boasts an impressive 8,000 square foot storge space in Gatwick.
Town & County continue to be an efficient and reactive supplier, set to meet customer demands at all times with future plans to expand and grow further already in motion.
Gemma started her career at the age of 15 in a traditional butcher’s shop. After working as a retail assistant and trainee butcher for 10 years, she felt it was time to move onto something more challenging.
Gemma joined Town & Country Meats 15 years ago and with her knowledge she gained in the industry she wanted to help build a company with values based on supplying much needed products at the best prices available globally.
Starting in administration, to finally achieve her role as general manager, she not only holds 25 years of experience in the industry, but she also helped Town & Country Meats Group Ltd grow into the strong business it is today.
Gemma now concentrates on being on hand for any daily matters which need addressing, along with guiding the team in the right direction to continue company growth throughout.
Ashley has a diverse role at Town & Country Meats, whilst primarily part of our core commercial team, Ashley is also instrumental in our BRC accreditation and our live cloud-based system development.
With almost 30 years’ experience in nationally recognised meat wholesale companies, and involvement in manufacturing reformed products for the likes of Greggs, Goodfoods, Tesco and Crossfields, Ashley’s solid knowledge base means he is significant to our success.
He is a qualified meat technologist, who studied microbiology, chemistry and law of meat as well as being a member of the Institute of Meat and holding numerous food hygiene certifications. His qualifications supported us in our journey to gain AA BRC status in both S&D and A&B.
Ashley uses our independent transport structure to enable the best service for his customer base as we now cover 99% of the UK with our own tracked and temperature-controlled fleet. Our artics, 26 tonne, 18 tonne, vans and support vehicles all run to the appropriate BRC standard.
Starting in the industry in 1989 as a trainee working in various roles before a career in sales he went on to work 14 years in the wholesale sector, then in 2004 made the change to the Trading arm of the industry where he worked 17 years before joining Town & Country Meats Group sales department in 2020.
Whilst Gary works across the full product portfolio, he is primarily a Beef & Pork specialist dealing mainly in UK/Irish & South American Beef & Chilled/Frozen Spanish Pork products.
After 32 years in the industry Gary’s customer relationships & loyalty are built on trust & transparency.
Bridget Banks brings a multifaceted and dynamic approach to her role as Sales Support at Town & Country Meats. Her journey in the meat industry started in 1998 at a Midland Lamb Abattoir, where she witnessed and contributed to its growth from a £3 million to a £60 million turnover in 18 years. Throughout her tenure, Bridget acquired extensive experience across various domains including Accounts, Finance, Human Resources, Health & Safety, Food Safety, and Marketing — not to mention her adeptness at making tea!
Joining Town & Country Meats Group in September 2022 as Finance Manager, Bridget swiftly met several ambitious goals set upon her arrival. Her successful tenure in finance paved the way for her transition into Sales Support, where she now focuses on ensuring smooth sales operations and enhancing customer satisfaction through meticulous sales analysis.
Bridget’s comprehensive background and her ability to wear multiple hats make her a key asset in her new role. Her expertise not only ensures operational excellence but also drives the kind of customer service that builds long-term relationships. As she embarks on this new challenge, Bridget looks forward to leveraging her broad skill set to further the success of Town & Country Meats.
From the age of 15 Tim has worked in the meat trade 37 years gaining knowledge and experience across numerous roles and environments. He started his career in the slaughter process, progressing to managing abattoir dispatch, before moving on to supervise a boning hall for one of the leading meat companies in the country at the time.
From boning beef primals, Tim progressed further in the same firm to manage their sales and dispatch department, developing strong relationships with retail and catering butchers nationwide.
These steadfast relationships facilitated Tim’s next move to Nigel Fredericks, one of the country’s largest catering butchers, where he managed their East Midlands depot. This posting was poignant in Tim’s learning, where he became an expert in quality and cut in a commercial capacity.
Tim’s extensive skill set saw him perfectly positioned for his current role at Town & Country Meats representing our Fellside Finest beef and poultry range. He works with our catering and retail customers to ensure their requirements are met with the best quality meat and the usual Town & Country service.
With an established career spanning more than 30 years, Mike Cleary has developed an instinctive passion for Australia’s meat and livestock industry.
With a degree in Agricultural Economics, followed by a three-year practical training program in livestock, processing, marketing and sales, shipping and finance, Mike regularly travelled to all the major global markets representing two of the largest Australian meat companies.
Mike has equally focussed on lamb and beef, with a strong emphasis on export marketing and sales, key customer and supplier relationships, and product development tailored to specific markets.
Specialising in procurement, Mike has a thorough understanding of the market and the specifications of his clients, developing long-term relationships with a range of loyal suppliers.
Mike holds his own Australian Meat Export License and is a fully accredited by Ausmeat. It is our pleasure to welcome Mike to the team as we continue to expand our global buying strategy.
With over 20 years’ service in the meat industry with a prominent business in the global meat trade, Neil’s sterling market knowledge is enabling Town & Country meats to continually expand their import channels effectively.
Brought into specifically develop the import of pork, beef and lamb within the business, Neil leverages his specialist supply chain experience to provide import accuracy to service blue chip companies.
By understanding international market dynamics and having managed high volume, large value accounts across a plethora of client types, Neil works alongside the Town & Country purchasing team as well as managing his sales accounts.
His varied client base scales from large catering butcher firms to regional wholesalers and smaller retailers like cash and carries and cruise liners. His motivation comes from the business’ enthusiasm to grow and the loyalty of the people who work here.
Dennis has now been in the meat industry for 33 years starting out in the retail sector before becoming a catering butcher. This provided Dennis with all the essential tools needed in butchery before finishing up as the production manager.
The time came for a new challenge, and this is what Town & Country has now provided.
Having been part of the company’s huge growth over the last 17 years, Dennis, now the operations manager ensures all the logistics side of the business along with liaising with all members of staff to ensure all runs smoothly.
Dennis is a passionate and integral part of the Town & Country meats team.
Extending the family tradition here at Town & Country Meats by joining parents Gemma and Dennis Dolan, Louis has now carved his own path in the trade over the past 13 years.
Being well versed in the meat trade and now working under his father’s guidance, Louis helps manage the logistics side of the business as well as having a hands-on roll with the wider team around him.
Having grown up in the meat trade and working around butchers shops and within the wholesale and retail sectors, John now sees to the day to day running of the Town & Country transport fleet.
From general paper work, temperature monitoring and HACCP procedures, John is another integral cog in a well oiled machine.
Shane, a sales executive and also an experienced HGV driver has been with Town & Country Meats for over six years.
His main role within the business is logistics, loading vehicles and organising members of his team and other drivers.
Tarsem Dhamrait brings a wealth of financial expertise to Town & Country Meats as our Head of Finance. With a robust background that began at KPMG Chartered Accountants, Tarsem has honed his skills across multiple sectors including financial services, manufacturing, energy, and food service. His multifaceted experience enriches his capability to manage the finance function and oversee the financial operations of our business effectively.
Since joining Town & Country Meats just a month ago, Tarsem has already started to implement strategies that streamline our financial processes, ensuring efficiency and sustainability within the department. His approach combines industry best practices with innovative financial management techniques that support our business objectives.
Tarsem’s leadership is instrumental in guiding Town & Country Meats through financial planning and analysis, helping us to continue delivering quality products while maintaining our commitment to fiscal responsibility. We are excited to see how his vision will further shape the future of our company.
Jack Cockayne is a dynamic Sales Executive at Town & Country Meats, bringing an extensive background in agriculture and meat processing to his current role. Jack’s journey in the meat industry began in his childhood, working with livestock and gaining first-hand experience in farming beef and lambs. His professional path then led him to ABP Ellesmere, where he progressed from an apprenticeship in butchery to technical roles managing compliance and production standards across multiple sites. Jack further honed his skills as a Sales Manager at Pickstock Telford and later as a Trading Manager at Meatex Telford.
At Town & Country Meats, where he has been a part of the team for six weeks, Jack is responsible for managing customer accounts and ensuring seamless stock levels for production. He is vigilant in monitoring product forecasts, coordinating transport to avoid delays, and swiftly resolving any issues that arise, always with a focus on exemplary customer service. Jack’s proactive approach and deep industry knowledge ensure that our clients are satisfied and operations run smoothly.
Jack’s commitment to excellence and his comprehensive understanding of both the farming and commercial aspects of the meat industry make him a vital asset to our sales team and to our company as a whole.
Sonya Rose joins Town & Country Meats as our Finance Manager, bringing over 25 years of experience in finance and accounts to our team. Her extensive career in financial management has equipped her with deep expertise in all aspects of finance operations, making her an invaluable asset to our company.
Starting in November 2023, Sonya oversees the financial and accounting functions at Town & Country Meats. Her responsibilities include managing financial records, overseeing budgeting and reporting, and ensuring compliance with financial regulations. Sonya’s role is pivotal in providing strategic financial insights that help steer the company towards profitable and sustainable growth.
With a quarter-century of financial experience, Sonya has a proven track record of enhancing financial frameworks, optimizing fiscal strategies, and leading finance teams with integrity and precision. Her knowledge and leadership are key to maintaining the financial health of Town & Country Meats.
We are thrilled to have Sonya on board and look forward to her contributions to our financial success.
Ross Whetton is a seasoned Sales Executive at Town & Country Meats, with a specialized focus in meat sales. Ross embarked on his journey in the meat industry in 2014, starting at a beef abattoir where he was involved in the sales of entire carcasses. Over the past five years, he has sharpened his expertise in buying and selling meat, developing a keen sense for market demands and product quality.
Since joining Town & Country Meats two months ago, Ross has been instrumental in driving sales and expanding our customer base. His role involves not only selling meat but also understanding the nuances of customer needs and preferences, ensuring that our products meet the highest standards of quality and satisfaction.
Ross’s in-depth knowledge of the meat industry and his proven track record in sales make him a vital member of our team. His ability to navigate complex sales environments and his commitment to excellence are key contributors to our company’s growth and success in the competitive meat market.
We are excited to have Ross with us and look forward to his continued contributions to our sales efforts at Town & Country Meats.
