Sir Peter Charles Leitch (born 8 May 1944), also known as The Mad Butcher, is a New Zealand businessman. Although well known in New Zealand for the chain of butcheries he founded and is currently the brand ambassador of, Leitch is arguably just as well known for his charity, fundraising work and his promotion of

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

Early life

Leitch was born in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

in 1944. He left school at age 15 on account of dyslexia to work as a newspaper boy. He gained a job as a butcher's apprentice in a

Seatoun Seatoun, an eastern suburb of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand, lies on the east coast of the Miramar Peninsula, close to the entrance to Wellington Harbour ( Port Nicholson), some seven kilometres southeast of the CBD. The suburb s ...

butchery at the age of 16, before later moving to Auckland.

Career

In 1971, he opened a butchery in Rosella Road, Mangere East. When a friend suggested a marketing gimmick for his radio advertising, Leitch recalled an incident at a pub in which someone referred to him as "that f**king mad butcher", hence his butchery became "the home of the Mad Butcher". In 2012, "The Mad Butcher" butchery chain had 36 stores from Whangarei to Dunedin.Mad Butcher Website
accessed 7 June 2010. Leitch is known for his work for charity and for his enthusiastic support of New Zealand

, the

Mangere East Hawks The Mangere East Hawks are a rugby league based in Mangere, New Zealand. The Hawks compete in Auckland Rugby League's Fox Memorial competition. History The club was formed in 1963, the first fourteen junior teams took the field in 1964.''The Haw ...

and the

Warriors A warrior is a person specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracies, class, or caste. History Warriors seem to have be ...

, which has increased the sport's profile in New Zealand. He managed the Kiwi's victorious Tri-Nations campaign in late 2005. In recognition of his support of the Warriors the club have retired the #19 jersey in his honour. The Mad Butcher Suburban Newspapers Community Trust is a fundraising vehicle he helped create to benefit charities. Leitch is chairman of the trust, and the deputy chairman is David Penny, general manager of Fairfax Media Suburban Newspapers Auckland.Madbutcher.co.nz: Community
accessed 7 June 2010. He has also fundraised for Allergy New Zealand, Diabetes Auckland, the Prostate Cancer Foundation and Macular Degeneration New Zealand. He was voted the 41st most influential New Zealander by '' Listener'' Magazine in 2004.New Zealand Listener: The Listener 2004 Power List
accessed 7 June 2010. He has a memorable way of talking, not unlike an auctioneer, that has caused various spoofs of 'The Mad Butcher' that included the

Radio Hauraki Radio Hauraki is a New Zealand rock music station that started in 1966. It was the first private commercial radio station of the modern broadcasting era in New Zealand and operated illegally until 1970 to break the monopoly held by the state-o ...

character 'The Bad Mutcher' on the Morning Pirates and Pulp Sport formerly had a character named 'The Mad Mad Butcher'. In his frequent radio advertisements, his voice rises to put the major stress and volume on the 99 cents which ends the price of each meat item advertised. In the 1991 Queen's Birthday Honours, Leitch was awarded the

Queen's Service Medal The Queen's Service Medal is a medal awarded by the government of New Zealand to recognise and reward volunteer service to the community and also public service in elected or appointed public office. It was established in 1975 and is related to ...

for community service. In the

2010 Queen's Birthday Honours The 2010 Birthday Honours for the Commonwealth realms were announced to celebrate the Queen's Birthday on 7 June 2010 in New Zealand, on 12 June 2010 in the United Kingdom, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Sain ...

, Leitch was appointed a

Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

for services to business and philanthropy. Later that year he featured on the TV One programme ''This is Your Life''. In 2008, Leitch released his autobiography "What a Ride, Mate!: the Life and Times of the Mad Butcher", co-authored with

Phil Gifford Philip Douglas Gifford (born 1947) is a New Zealand sportswriter and broadcaster. He has his own rugby radio show ''Front Row'' on Radio Sport from 8 to 10am on Saturdays. He writes a weekly column in the country's highest circulation weekend p ...

. 2008 was also the first year that the

Peter Leitch QSM Challenge Trophy The Peter Leitch QSM Challenge Trophy (often shortened to "the Peter Leitch Challenge Trophy") is a rugby league challenge trophy that is contested when the New Zealand national rugby league team play a Pacific island side in non-Rugby League Worl ...

was contested. In 2011 he was made patron of the

New Zealand Rugby League The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in New Zealand. SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a tour of Great Britain that same year.Coffey and Wood ''T ...

, replacing

Helen Clark Helen Elizabeth Clark (born 26 February 1950) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 37th prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008, and was the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2017. She was ...

. In January 2017, a

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

resident of

Waiheke Island Waiheke Island (; Māori: ) is the second-largest island (after Great Barrier Island) in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand. Its ferry terminal in Matiatia Bay at the western end is from the central-city terminal in Auckland. It is the most pop ...

posted a video on Facebook claiming that Leitch had racially abused her while she was on a wine tasting tour on the island. Leitch agreed that during the exchange he told her that Waiheke "is a white man's island also", but says his comments were misinterpreted and that it was merely banter. After initially saying that Leitch was the "least racist person I know", New Zealand Race Relations Commissioner

Susan Devoy Dame Susan Elizabeth Anne Devoy (born 4 January 1964) is a former New Zealand squash player and senior public servant. As a squash player, she was dominant in the late 1980s and early 1990s, winning the World Open on four occasions. She served ...

later condemned Leitch's comments as casual racism.

References

External links

Mad Butcher Website

Sir Peter Leitch's Personal Website

Hawkes Bay Today (2006): Mad Butcher tells fans of Warriors: Get over it
accessed 7 June 2010.
Academy Publishing: Maddening Simple Philosophy
accessed 7 June 2010.
Howick and Pakuranga Times: The Times Interview - Peter Leitch, Explain Yourself to Dean Wedlake
accessed 7 June 2010. {{DEFAULTSORT:Leitch, Peter 1944 births New Zealand businesspeople in retailing People educated at Rongotai College Recipients of the Queen's Service Medal Knights Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit New Zealand merchants Living people Mangere East Hawks New Zealand rugby league administrators New Zealand butchers People educated at Wellington High School, New Zealand Rugby players and officials awarded knighthoods People with dyslexia Businesspeople awarded knighthoods