Cheese in
Hartington
The Story So Far…
CLAIRE AND GARRY MILLNER
Who we are….
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Fully Qualified Building Surveyors/Engineers by Profession (now retired
Members of the Association of Building Engineers)
Owners of 5 local businesses:
Cheeky Monkeys Day Nursery in Chapel-en-le-Frith registered for 48
children on a daily basis
Little Rascals Play Centre in Buxton and 80 seater cafe
Hartington Cheese & Wine Company in Hartington – retail & wholesale
Hartington Creamery in Pike Hall – cheese producers
Shawfields Farm and Holiday Cottages in Reapsmoor – 33 acre
smallholding with 1 recently completed holiday let, one permanent
rental property and 1 holiday let under going renovation and our own
family home
Employers of 42 staff (across our business)
Why we are here……
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To give an insight into how we started our cheese journey
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How we have expanded the Old Cheese Shop in Hartington
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How we started in cheese production
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Tell you about the new cheeses we are now making
Where our cheese story started……
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Summer 2009 we bought the Old Cheese Shop in Hartington and
officially started trading as the Hartington Cheese & Wine Company
on 22nd October of the same year
Successes..
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We have doubled our original turnover and should triple it by the
end of this financial year.
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We have introduced a greater range of local and British cheeses
and try to sell as much local produce as possible.
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We also have a good range of local beers and English Wines which
are very popular with our 50,000 customers who are predominantly
tourists
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Established less than 2 years ago we now operate a busy wholesale
business that runs alongside the shop, serving around 130
restaurants, hotels, farm shops etc. across Derbyshire, Staffordshire
and Cheshire – Chatsworth Farm Shop being our biggest customer
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We have also established a successful online shop sending cheese
all over the UK and indeed the world!
Successes continued…
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We have branched out into wedding/celebration cakes & last year
delivered personally or posted out around 100 cakes & the number
of cakes is growing year on year due to predominantly” word of
mouth”
Deliveries abroad…
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We even sent wedding cakes abroad. This one went to Portugal!
Export..
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We now export on a fortnightly basis to a company called I Love
Cheese in Tokyo who operate a small wholesale business to hotels
and restaurants that are frequented by a large community of expats, although their Japanese client base is growing too!
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And our first delivery to Singapore is being shipped out this week!
Help along the way….
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We were very fortunate to receive a grant from LEADER to help us
purchase our refrigerated delivery van, a heavy duty gazebo so we
can attend outside food events and tables/chairs for our customers
to enjoy the garden area at the shop
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We have also recently had a massive boost to the number of
people visiting our online shop since we have been linked to the
Visit Peak District website which directs traffic to local suppliers and
producers who can post out their products to customers
Next phase…. Cheese Production..
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Almost 3 years ago we were approached by two ex-employees
from Long Clawsons (Alan Salt and Adrian Cartlidge) who asked if
they ever resurrected cheese making again would we sell any of
their cheese in our shop
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This lead to plenty of discussions and ended up with us all joining
forces to form a new company, find premises, source finance, apply
for another LEADER grant and start the long and arduous journey
into making cheese again in Derbyshire
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Eventually we found some redundant barns available to rent on a
farm at Pike Hall (still within the Parish of Hartington)
That was then…
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The barns were definitely not suitable for cheese making! And both ourselves and
the landlord had plenty of work to do.. And I can honestly say all the work was
completed by the 5 Directors and just 2 other labourers!
This is now…
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After a total investment of £450,000 we now have a state of the art
factory… and 2 highly skilled cheese makers overseeing our
production!
More help along the way…
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The Peak Park Planning Authority, their officers and Jim Dixon were
extremely supportive and helpful when submitting our Planning
Application – offering lots of advice
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We successfully obtained a LEADER grant for £79,000 to help us
purchase equipment
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Derbyshire Dales DC officers from the Building Control Dept and
Environmental Health Dept were also extremely interested in our
project as it was a “first” for them too – dealing with a new cheese
making facility!
Momentous Occasion…
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In October 2012 the first milk was pumped through the pipes in our
newly finished factory and we started making our first cheese. It was
a very exciting and emotional day for us all as you can imagine?
The process …..
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The curd and whey separate and the curds are cut, crumbled by
hand, salted and then milled. The milled cheese is then pressed into
hoops and turned daily. The white cheese is chilled and is ready to
eat in 2-3 weeks. The blue cheeses are then turned less frequently,
are pierced twice and left to ripen for 10-12 weeks.
Where we are now…
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We currently make 4 cheeses – a creamy blue, a crumbly white and
2 flavoured cheeses
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Our stilton license should be obtained officially around the middle of
September and we can then start making Hartington Stilton again
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We have obtained a license from Long Clawson Dairy to use the
“Hartington” name once again which is very important to us and we
feel this is definitely our USP
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We are making currently around 25 tonnes of cheese with a view to
increasing this to around 40 tonnes within 12 months
Some of our cheese…
Where do we go to from here?
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One of the other buildings on the site has been renovated by the
landlord (who also received a LEADER grant) and subject to an
approximate £15k further investment from ourselves to “kit it out” we
will then be able to offer cheese making courses and
demonstrations to the public (including educational visits for
children)
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We are currently all working in the factory and employ two
additional part time staff to help us out and this should increase to
two full time and two part time in the new year, enabling two of our
business partners Alan and Adrian to run the training courses
More aspirations for the Creamery..
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We would still like to develop some of the older buildings on the old
Hartington Dairy site into a visitor centre/museum and have built up
a substantial collection of artefacts and antiquities between us all in
readiness (hopefully)
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We want to increase tourism into Hartington village and the wider
community through the cheese connection and in doing so
increase the number of customers in our shop and help to support
and sustain all the businesses in Hartington
And for the shop….
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We are working on increasing our export market to other wholesalers
around the world and are currently in discussions with a distributor in
Sydney
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We are currently smartening up the exterior of the shop and have some
lovely cheese artefacts to incorporate around the garden area for
visitors to look at
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We are hoping to start serving rustic cheese platters with a glass of local
beer or English Wine on the garden area outside the shop as this area is
licensed to consume alcohol
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We are hoping to attend more food events and shows as we have now
invested in a refrigerated trailer/serving counter
To end..
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In the 1870’s the then Duke of Devonshire originally set up a small
creamery in Hartington and the cheese connection grew and grew
through some well known names – Nuttalls, Dairy Crest and Long
Clawson
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Hartington cheese has been resurrected and we hope the brand
will continue to grow to once again become a world wide
recognised brand
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We are continuing to work with other professional bodies to help us
achieve this and always appreciate any help and support we get
And finally…
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Last Friday we were privileged to invite
Lisa Simpson the Head Buyer for
Chatsworth along to the factory to help
us make some of our Peakland Blue
cheese.
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The Duke will no doubt recognise Lisa in
this photo and it was a joy to have her
on site as she was, in a former career, a
cheese maker herself! She too shares
our passion for creating a local cheese
in Derbyshire and we hope to continue
our links with the Chatsworth Estate and
maybe one day we can make a
cheese specifically for them!