Vicars Game Ltd

What Vicars Game Ltd does

Vicars Game Ltd is an artisan British butcher and wild game specialist headquartered at Casey Fields Farm in Ashampstead, Berkshire (registered office at Yattendon, RG18 0UY). The business traces its heritage to William Vicars and Son, established in Reading in 1886 as Purveyors of English Meat and Game, and was reconstituted under the Vicars Game brand in 1973 when Alan Hayward opened a specialist game processing department at the old Reading Abattoirs. Operations moved to Ashampstead in 2001 and the company was acquired by Yattendon Estate in 2021.

The core offering is whole-carcass artisan butchery applied to locally sourced British meat and wild game. Product lines span beef (dry-aged up to 42 days), grass-fed lamb, pork, poultry, sausages and burgers, a deli range (dry-cured bacon, gammon, continental meats, pâté), and seasonal wild game including pheasant, partridge, pigeon, grouse, rabbit, hare, and five deer species. Wild game is sourced from sporting estates within approximately 30 miles of Ashampstead, with annual throughput exceeding 6,000 deer and 100,000 pheasants and partridges. Sausage production runs at over 2 tonnes daily, all cut and prepared fresh on site under the direction of Production Director Justin Hind (37+ years of butchery experience, former National Butcher of the Year). Sustainability infrastructure includes WoolCool insulated packaging for nationwide home delivery (cold retention up to 72 hours) and a 720-module ground-mounted PV array supplying up to 300 kW.

The business runs four revenue streams: a physical farm shop and café at Casey Fields Farm (open seven days), a Shopify-based e-commerce platform delivering meat boxes and individual cuts across the UK with free delivery over £60, a B2B wholesale channel covering the south of England within roughly 90 minutes of RG8 8SJ (£100 minimum order, daily cut-off 11:30pm for next-day delivery), and a loyalty card scheme (1 point per £1 spent). Wholesale serves restaurants, hotels, pubs, and caterers, with named accounts including Michelin-starred The Ledbury and The Harwood Arms, Berkshire's The Woodspeen, and pub chain Brakspear. Pricing spans £65–£140 meat boxes, £4.60–£5.30 sausage packs, and £1.50–£7.50 café items. The company operates with approximately 15 employees, won the Countryside Alliance "Rural Oscars" Best Butcher for the South East in 2023 (its second win in seven years), and is privately held under Yattendon Estate ownership.

Name

Vicars Game Ltd

Legal name

Vicars Game Ltd

Website

https://vicarsgame.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1973

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Vicars Game Ltd is a Berkshire-based artisan butcher and wild game specialist serving retail consumers via farm shop, café, and e-commerce, and hospitality clients via B2B wholesale. It processes over 6,000 deer and 100,000 game birds annually and operates under Yattendon Estate ownership since 2021.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialty Meat & Game Butchery

NAICS

Meat Retailers (445240)

SIC

Sausages & Other Prepared Meat Products (2013)

akta.pro primary industry

Specialty & Exotic Meats Retail (Game, Halal, Kosher) (CRAHAHAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Butcher Shops & Meat Markets (CRAHAHAB), Game & Specialty Meats Wholesale (Venison, Bison, etc.) (AFAIADAG)

Keywords

• Artisan butchery services
• British game meat
• Wholesale meat supply
• Meat box delivery
• Farm shop retail

Headquarters

HQ city

Ashampstead

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Retail Farm Shop Sales: Physical retail sales at the farm shop in Ashampstead, including fresh meat, game, deli products, cheese, and ready-to-cook meals.
2. E-commerce Home Delivery: Online sales of meat boxes, individual cuts, and products delivered nationwide. Free delivery over £60.
3. Wholesale B2B: Wholesale supply to restaurants, hotels, and fine dining establishments. Minimum order value of £100 with daily deliveries across south of England.
4. Café Sales: On-site café serving hot food and drinks using locally sourced ingredients and Vicars Game meat products.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Vicars Game Ltd is a specialty British butcher and game processor that sells fresh meat, poultry, wild game, artisan sausages, and deli products. The company operates an award-winning farm shop in Ashampstead, Berkshire, an e-commerce home delivery service shipping meat boxes and individual cuts across the UK, and a wholesale supply service delivering to restaurants, hotels, and caterers across the south of England. Products are sourced locally and processed fresh daily using whole carcass artisan butchery techniques.

Product overview

Vicars Game Ltd operates as a traditional British butcher and game specialist offering a unified portfolio of fresh meat, poultry, game, and deli products through multiple channels. The core product line comprises premium meat boxes (Month of Sundays, Family Essential/Premium, Steak, and Mini Month of Sundays) available via home delivery, alongside individual cuts of beef, grass-fed lamb, pork, poultry, wild game, artisan sausages, and deli items sold through the farm shop, cafe, and wholesale channels. The company employs artisan butchery techniques including whole carcass butchery, 21-42 day dry-aging for beef, and daily fresh production. The business operates from Casey Fields Farm in Ashampstead, Berkshire, serving retail customers, foodservice businesses, and wholesale accounts across south England.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Month of Sundays Meat Box A curated meat box designed to cover Sunday roasts for a month, containing hand-selected lamb leg (2.5kg), beef topside (2kg), beef rib on the bone (2kg), and pork loin (2kg). Targeted at retail households seeking premium Sunday roast cuts.
• Family Eat Well Essential Meat Box A family-focused meat box providing quality, variety and value at £65, with cuts for evening meals and weekend breakfasts including dry cure back bacon, rare breed sausage, chicken fillets, pork tenderloin, half boneless chicken, gammon steaks, diced beef, and steak mince. Targeted at retail households seeking everyday value.
• Family Eat Well Premium Meat Box An upgraded family meat box at £110 featuring premium cuts such as lamb chops, chicken supremes, French trimmed lamb rack, and rib of beef on the bone. Targeted at retail households seeking premium family cuts.
• Steak Meat Box A premium steak selection at £140 featuring 2x 6oz fillet steaks, 2x 8oz rib eye, 2x 8oz sirloin, cote de boeuf (800g), and chateaubriand (500g), all locally sourced from nearby abattoirs. Targeted at retail households and special occasions.
• Mini Month of Sundays Meat Box A smaller version of the Sunday roast box at £80 containing half leg of lamb (1.2kg), beef topside (1kg), free-range chicken (1.8kg), and pork loin boned and rolled (1kg). Targeted at smaller households.
• Beef Products Dry-aged and wet-aged beef cuts including sirloin steaks, ribeye steaks, fillet steaks, rump steaks, topside, and specialty cuts like cote de boeuf and tomahawk steaks. All beef is UK-reared, grass-fed, and dry-aged up to 42 days. Sold individually through farm shop, home delivery, and wholesale channels.
• Grass-Fed Lamb Products UK-reared, grass-fed lamb cuts including whole lamb, legs, shoulders, chops, shanks, racks, and mince. Sourced locally from abattoirs with high animal welfare standards and Red Tractor assured. Sold individually through farm shop, home delivery, and wholesale channels.
• Pork Products UK-reared pork including loins, bellies, shoulders, tenderloins, and mince. Suppliers include Royal Windsor Pork and Hampshire Rare Breed, with traditional dry curing methods for bacon production. Sold individually through farm shop, home delivery, and wholesale channels.
• Poultry Products UK-sourced poultry including whole corn-fed chickens, supremes, duck (Creedy Carver and French breeds), poussin, quail, guinea fowl, and turkey. Red Tractor approved suppliers with fresh cutting and preparation in-house. Sold individually through farm shop, home delivery, and wholesale channels.
• Game Products Locally sourced wild game including pheasants, partridge, pigeon, grouse, wild rabbit, hare, and venison (roe, fallow, red, sika, and muntjac deer). Processed from local estates within 30 miles of Ashampstead, with over 100,000 pheasants and partridges and 6,000+ deer processed annually. Sold individually through farm shop, home delivery, and wholesale channels.
• Sausages & Burgers Artisan sausages produced fresh daily using fresh primal cuts and natural casings with hand-linked methods. Varieties include traditional pork (£4.60 for 6 pack), Gloucester Old Spot, Cumberland, boerewors, chicken variants, venison, wild boar and apple (£5.30), pork and chilli (£4.70), plus handmade beef and venison burgers. Sold individually through farm shop, home delivery, and wholesale channels.
• Deli Products Homemade dry-cured bacon, gammon, continental meats including chorizo and pancetta, traditional cure hams, chicken liver pate, black pudding, and confit duck legs. Sold individually through farm shop, home delivery, and wholesale channels.
• Farm Shop Physical retail store at Casey Fields Farm offering wild game, freshly made pies, 28-day aged beef, pork, lamb, specialty cheeses (50+ varieties), continental meats, and local produce from the surrounding Berkshire area. Open Monday-Saturday 08:00-17:00, Sunday 10:00-16:00. Award-winning butchery counter with knowledgeable staff, in-store sampling, and customer service.
• Café On-site café at the farm shop serving hot food and drinks using locally sourced ingredients and Vicars Game meat products, with Fairtrade coffee. Menu includes breakfast rolls (£5.95), bacon/sausage rolls (£4.95), paninis (£6.99), beef burgers (£5.50), rib-eye steak baps (£7.50), sausage rolls (£4.99), and cakes (£3.20). Open Monday-Saturday 08:00-15:00, Sunday 10:00-15:00.
• Wholesale Supply Service B2B wholesale supply of Vicars Game products to restaurants, hotels, caterers, and businesses across south England within approximately 90 minutes of RG8 8SJ. Minimum order value of £100 with fresh daily cutting to specification. Order cut off at 11:30pm for next-day deliveries. Delivers Monday-Saturday.

Quantifiable outcome

• Processing over 6,000 deer each year
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Tom Hixson of Smithfield: London-based premium online butcher offering heritage-breed meat, dry-aged beef, and game to retail and hospitality customers. Directly comparable to Vicars Game in multi-channel premium meat retail and HoReCa supply.
• Donald Russell: Premium UK online butcher delivering meat boxes and individual cuts direct to consumers nationwide. Comparable D2C premium meat model with meat-box catalog similar to Vicars' Month of Sundays line.
• Cobbs Farm Shop & Kitchen: West Sussex farm shop and café offering local meat, deli, and produce. Comparable farm-shop + café + retail butchery model in the south of England.
• The Wild Meat Company: UK specialist in wild game (venison, pheasant, rabbit, pigeon) supplying restaurants and home delivery nationwide. Direct peer in game-focused wholesale and e-commerce.
• Cannon & Cannon: London-based charcuterie and cured meat specialist supplying restaurants and delis. Comparable artisan cured-meat / deli product line within UK premium meat category.
• Farmison & Co: North Yorkshire-based online butcher specializing in native-breed, grass-fed meat and meat boxes for home delivery. Comparable premium online butcher with farm-to-door provenance positioning.
• Eversfield Organic: Devon-based organic farm and online butcher offering meat boxes, charcuterie, and deli products to consumers and HoReCa. Comparable premium organic butcher with multi-channel retail and wholesale.
• Campbells Prime Meat: Scottish venison and game specialist supplying restaurants and consumers. Direct peer in wild game, particularly venison, with HoReCa focus.

Regional players

• Godfrey's of Highclere: Hampshire-based traditional butcher serving local retail and wholesale customers with game and specialty meats. Comparable regional UK butcher with game specialization.

Broad incumbents

• Daylesford Organic: Large UK organic farm shop and online retailer with extensive meat, dairy, and prepared food offering. Broader portfolio but overlapping premium farm shop + e-commerce + café concept.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights8 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/vicars-game-ltd

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Vicars Game Ltd