THE BRITISH BANGER COMPANY
BORN IN THE UK
In a little town near the foothills of the Rocky Mountains is a rather unique business. Tim and Tracey Worsley are the owners of the British Banger Company, part butcher shop and part bakery with a growing side of deli and grocery. Since opening in 2019 it’s been a somewhat meteoric rise for the shop in this small community. From their humble beginnings of sausage and bacon to black pudding, burgers, pork pies, and more, the British couple from Lancashire are making a mark in Okotoks – and it’s all Made in Alberta. “We won Best New Business of 2019 and we’d only been open five months”, says Tracey, in a video interview about the unexpected accolades. “Customers were thrilled to bits.” It’s a feeling palpable in every aspect of their business: a focus on their customers, dedication to producing an excellent product, and unwavering
appreciation for their community. The Worsleys decided to open their store in Okotoks because it was their first choice of place to live when they arrived from England in 2009. “The town has always felt like home.” It all started at home, quite literally. In 2018 the couple began making sausage and bacon at their Okotoks house and their friends became taste-testers. With positive responses to bolster them, Tracey and Tim decided to make their products available to the public and they used social media to help with sales. The enterprise was grassroots from the ground up, crafted with love and created with a nod to their original long-time family business in Lancashire. The Okotoks shop is only a few years old but Tracey and Tim’s background in butchery goes back more than two decades. Back in the UK, the couple purchased their
family’s business in 2000 and expanded into the space next door only a few years later. They continued to develop products and kept growing, finding more success after placing 3rd in a Regional Sausage Competition (for their Minted Lamb and Cumberland sausages). The Worsleys sold the business in 2008 and moved to Canada a year later, thinking they would look at retirement. That idea didn’t last very long. Now with ample space in the British Banger Company’s professional kitchen, Tracey and Tim prepare a more complete line of butchery goods – from English Style Ham, dry cured bacon, burgers (including gluten free), lamb, and sausages to classics like haggis and Bangers Black Pudding. The shop offerings have grown beyond meats to also include other items like clotted cream and scotch eggs. There are also baked goods, too – pasties, pork pies, and sausage ADVERTORIAL
