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A family cheesemaking business is looking to the future after plans were approved for expansion at their site in Inglewhite, north of Preston.
Blog Preston reported in December how Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses had applied to Preston City Council to build a new warehouse and office space at its dairy at Wilson Fields Farm, Inglewhite, after a devastating fire destroyed its large packing warehouse in Shay Lane, Longridge, in November 2023.
Preston City Council has recently approved the planning application to build what the company describes as a ‘cheesemaking campus’ at its Inglewhite farm.
Read more: 59 letters of support for Longridge site with yoga and cycle repair opened without approval
In statement on the company’s website, it says: “We are so happy to have the green light for this exciting project. It was particularly heartening for the council to acknowledge our resilience and farming grit over the last year or so following the fire, as well as the role we play in generating a wide range of skilful, meaningful jobs both now and in future.
“Our new, state-of-the-art campus will be inspired by the land and a melting pot for innovation and ideas. It will be one of the most advanced farmhouse operations in the UK, with a leading maturation space that meets the very specific requirements of our farmhouse cheese. It will also enable us to get back to our pre-fire sales, where we are currently operating at 60% due to space limitations.
“Our community has been with us every step of this journey, so it was very important to us to keep the build as local as possible. We have enlisted a number of local suppliers, including fellow family businesses Wareing Buildings and Sanderson Brothers in Inglewhite. Stone from Longridge quarry and rubble recycled from the old Longridge site will also be incorporated. We will also be reducing our food miles by 40 per cent.
“We aim to complete the build by the end of the year, and it will serve our business, customers, and community for the next 100 years.”
It is still unclear what the future holds for the former packing site on Shay Lane, Longridge, which was the scene of the inferno on 6 November 2023.
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