The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Champion pie maker Alan ready to hang up his butcher’ s apron
He’s been a familiar face in the local community for nearly six decades, but after 57 years Alan Pirie has finally made the decision to hang up his apron and retire.
The 72-year-old, who has spent the majority of his career behind the counter at James Pirie & Son’s Newtyle butcher shop, will retire in the new year.
He will officially hang up his apron when a buyer for the business is found.
Running the company with his wife Norma has seen the butcher serve the local community at Newtyle for many years, with the duo experiencing great success.
Alan was just 15 when he first stepped into his father James’ butchery shop, which was opened in 1960.
Throughout his time at the helm, the firm has been awarded 191 accolades and Alan has experienced everything from decimalisation, metrication, computerisation, the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) crisis, and a global pandemic.
The business has received both national and global recognition, including Chris Evans tasting Pirie’s Scotch pies live on BBC Radio 2.
Alan said: “At the start of my career the shop’s customer base was within the Newtyle village and neighbouring farms, and homes within a five mile radius were served by Pirie’s mobile shop.
“Nowadays deliveries are made from Callander to Montrose, and we have many customers in between.
“Further deliveries are also made by overnight carriers all over the UK, and customers pop into the shop from all over Scotland now to sample our awardwinning pies, haggis, sausages and more.”
Building on his reputation for awardwinning sausages and pies, in recent years, Alan has focused his attention on developing recipes to make some of the best pies.
In 2000, Alan purchased the grocer’s shop next to the butchers on Church Street which Norma ran as a grocer’s and takeaway selling Pirie’s burgers and sausages.
A decade later they bought the Post Office and General Store in North Street. The grocer’s shop was then transformed into a bakery with a dedicated pie kitchen to make Pirie’s pies in-house.
Pirie’s won the Scottish Bakers World Scotch Pie Championship in 2018 and 2020, and in 2021 they took home the greatest accolade and ultimate highlight, World Scotch Pie Champion of Champions.
They also won the title of Best Steak Pie in Scotland in 2014 and 2015, and Best Speciality Pie in Scotland for their steak, leek and horseradish version.
If that wasn’t enough for Alan, the butcher’s has also been featured on screen three times.
The first was a documentary, then a drama about a dog who had to
steal sausages from the shop. The premises was also featured in an episode of Dhani Jones Travels the Globe for an American travel channel.
As a result, Alan has featured on BBC, ITV, Sky, numerous newspapers and Canadian radio.
Alan said: “I have thoroughly enjoyed my working life in the shop. I have met so many interesting people and discerning meat eaters from all over the UK and beyond.
“I will always be very grateful to our wonderfully loyal customer base, our suppliers and our excellent
hard-working staff over the years.”
As Alan looks forward to spending more time playing the sports he loves and with his wife and grown-up children, he received a very special arrival at the weekend – his first grandchild was born.
He added: “There is still huge opportunity for someone with ambition, an eye for creative product development and knowing their customer to take the haggis and pie business to the next level.
“I am confident that Pirie’s products have an exciting future in the right hands.”