Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses has secured planning application to build a state-of-the-art “cheesemaking campus” at its farm in Inglewhite, Lancashire, after a fire destroyed its 65,000sq ft office and packing site.
The new facility, which incorporates maturation, packing and office facilities, will be “inspired by the land and a melting pot for innovation and ideas”, said Matthew Hall, fourth-generation owner at Butlers. He added that the fire at the site in Longridge in November 2023 had made the past 16 months challenging, but the company had received “incredible” support from customers.
“What [the experience] has done, is ignite our desire to nurture our cheese from beginning to end on the farm. Cheesemaking is at the very heart of our business. We are now in a position to build a leading maturation space that meets the specific requirements of our farmhouse cheese and get us back to our pre-fire sales, where we are currently operating at 60% due to space limitations.”
In its most recently filed accounts, covering the year to 30th September 2023 (before the fire), Butlers’ saw turnover rise by 11% to £20.3m, while pre-tax profits rose from £900k to £1.2m.
The company acquired Hampshire Cheese Company in March 2024, and has since transferred production of Tunworth and Winslade to Lancashire.
Butlers has enlisted a number of local Lancashire suppliers for the build, which will incorporate stone from Longridge quarry and rubble recycled from the old Longridge site. The company’s food miles will be reduced by 40% by moving all operations to one site with the new facility expected to be finished by the end of the year.
This article first appeared in the April 2025 issue of Fine Food Digest.
