The man who makes Northamptonshire’s only cheese has launched an urgent appeal to save his creamery.
Gary Bradshaw’s business has been ravaged by Covid 19. He has lost all his big customers – venues like Silverstone circuit – and takings have slumped by 60 per cent.
The business has been losing £2,000 a month and Gary has been propping it up with savings but now the money has run out.
Gary said: “I can’t imagine a life not making cheese. I’ve invested everything into the business but I’m staring at the end of the road.”
Gary, who makes award winning cheeses including Cobblers Nibble, has launched a crowdfunding campaign in a bid to save Northamptonshire cheese.
He wants to raise £40,000 which he hopes will tide him over until spring of next year. People can buy various rewards including a Northamptonshire cheese box.
He said: “Without the money, I’ll have to close. It’s as simple as that. I can’t go on. There’s no money left in the bank.”
Gary turned his cheese-making hobby into a business in 2013 when he was made redundant from his job as a Mac operator.
He used his redundancy money to set it up and was quickly winning awards for his celebrated hard cheese Cobblers Nibble.
He built up the business, first quadrupling the size of his cheese-making vat to 800 litres and later 2,000 litres, and adding new cheeses.
He created the county’s first blue cheese in 2015, called Northamptonshire Blue, and in 2017 created a new Camenbert-style soft cheese Little Bertie.
He had just moved to new premises on the Royal Oak Industrial Estate in Daventry, doubling production along with costs, when the pandemic hit in March.
Father-of-one Gary, 47, who lives in Long Buckby, has launched his campaign on Crowdfunder – either search ‘Save Northamptonshire Cheese’ or visit: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/save-northamptonshire-cheese
Maker of Cobbler’s Nibble launches crowdfunder in fight for survival
