A west Cumbrian butcher is set to open a new shop in Carlisle.

First Choice Meats, which has shops in Workington and Cleator Moor, will expand its offering with a new store in Caldewgate.

It hopes to launch the store in January and it will be the firm’s largest to date.

Around six new jobs are hoped to be created and First Choice Meats is about to start recruiting a shop manager.

The award winning producers of smoked and cured meats and fish said the major expansion is part of a drive to offer Cumbrian shoppers the best produce.

Owner Rob Hodgson said: “We are very excited about opening in Carlisle. It is something we have planned to do for the last two years due to the size of the population in the city.

“The expansion is all down to the fact that shoppers are looking for quality and affordable meats that are produced locally and that is what we offer.

“Our existing shops thrive on providing meat sourced as local as possible and prices are set near wholesale prices, which the public really appreciate.”

There will be parking for around 20 cars at the new premises, which will be open seven days a week.


Rob Hodgson The business, which employs around 40 people, also has a presence at Dobbies Garden Centre, at Great Orton, along with a factory in Maryport, where all the meat is packed.

Its beef and lamb is sourced within 60 miles of the factory and its chicken comes from Cumbria and Cheshire.

The company has won over 40 gold Great Taste Awards for its products, including its Penrith pepperpot sausage and traditional Cumberland sausage.

First Choice Meats is owned by parent company Taste of the Lakes, which has been selling its products on to hotels and restaurants for years through wholesalers.

Mr Hodgson’s family used to own Brookside Products, also of Maryport, but sold the plant to a Scottish company.

Taste of the Lakes was set up seven years ago.

It acquired Penrith’s Old Smokehouse, moving the equipment to Maryport.