Hearty's Food Hall at Tong Garden Centre has introduced a new butchery department in partnership with Yorkshire-based Bennett's Butchers.

Bennett's founder, Phil Bennett, has been in the butchery trade since he was 12 and is excited by the opportunity at Tong Garden Centre: "This is our first retail partnership outside our own butchers' shops, and we're delighted to be working with the Hearty's team who share our passion for provenance and excellence. We're looking forward to getting to know the customers and being able to advise them about cuts of meat, recipe ideas and cooking instructions."

Yorkshire Garden Centres' Commercial Director, Sharon McNair, said of the change: "We're very excited to team up with Bennett's Butchers within Hearty's at Tong. Phil and the team have a great reputation in the area, and we're looking forward to delighting our customers with great value, high-quality local produce and the return of the popular multibuys."

Bennett's Butchers was established in 2001 and has a thriving online business plus shops in Morley, Pontefract, Castleford and Horbury. The Tong butchery is managed by Adrian Thorp, a nose-to-tail carcass butcher who's worked with Bennett's for over 25 years.

Tong Garden Centre occupies a 19-acre site in Tong village. It is one of Yorkshire's biggest independent garden centres, with 11,600m2 of retail space and parking for up to 700 cars. It is part of the Yorkshire Garden Centres (YGC) family that also owns Tingley, Otley and Bingley Garden Centres plus Dean's in York and Scarborough.