Mayor goes behind the scenes at Dicksons pork butchers

Coun Richard Porthouse and his wife Mary have been given an exclusive tour of the Dicksons Pork Butchers factory, in South Shields.

The tour offered the Mayor and Mayoress the opportunity to look inside the sausage production section, where the famous sausages are hand linked and packaged, as well as a tour of the smoking ovens where traditional beech chips are used, to give the saveloys their famous smoked flavour.

Dicksons is one of the borough’s biggest employers with more than 300 staff within its main factory and shop network. Michael Dickson, managing director at Dicksons, said: “This visit offered the opportunity to showcase our busy production facility to the Mayor and Mayoress of South Tyneside.

“We are very proud to be a South Tyneside business, and we believe it is our loyal and dedicated workforce who have helped to make Dicksons such a success in the region for 63 years.

“Our team work tirelessly to produce the kind of tasty, delicious food that our retail and wholesale customers rely on day in and day out, and it was a real pleasure to detail first-hand what makes Dicksons products so special.

“I’d once again like to thank the Mayor and Mayoress for taking the time to visit our factory and meet with our team, and they are, of course, welcome back any time to sample what delicious new products we have on offer.”

Dicksons employs 312 staff across its retail shops, head office and production facility.

Established in South Shields in 1953 as a stand-alone pork butcher, Dicksons sells a wide range of premium meat products, including freshly-cooked deli meats, sausages, bacon, pies, and a selection of hot and cold food on the go.

The Mayor said: “It was a pleasure to meet Michael and to be given a private tour of the South Shields production facility.

“The Mayoress and I found the visit gave an interesting insight into how the family business produces some of its delicious baked products, traditional fayre and meats, including their hand-linked sausages.

“It is wonderful to see that the local business has come so far and is continuing to grow and invest in its stores and production facilities in the borough.”