Melton cheese maker expands as exports rise

The £7 million extension to Long Clawson Dairy will give the business the capacity to meet a rise in orders from overseas.

Work on the extension to the largest Stilton cheese manufacturer in the UK has just been completed by experts from Lindum Peterborough.

The dairy has been producing award-winning cheeses since its creation in 1911 and it uses milk from more than 43farms across Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.

Its cheese is sold to retailers in the UK, Europe, North America and Australia.

As exports to North America grew, the business turned to Lloyds Bank to support the extension of its Melton Mowbray site.

Long Clawson Dairy has also secured an asset finance facility from Lloyds Bank to enable it to purchase new state-of-the-art machinery to help meet the growing demand from its North American customers without impacting day-to-day cash flow.

Luke Goddard, the dairy’s finance director, said: “The dairy started out as a small, local cheese maker and as we’ve expanded we’ve always kept that same ethos by locally sourcing all of our produce.

“It’s hugely rewarding to see our cheeses being enjoyed around the world. The extended site and new machinery means we can continue to expand and share our products with more customers.”

Andy Dunlop, relationship director at Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, said: “It’s great to see two of our long-standing East Midlands customers, Long Clawson Dairy and Lindum Group, collaborating on this project and capitalising on the opportunities in the all-important North American market.”

Mick Papworth, managing director of Lindum Peterborough, said: “Lindum was very proud to be associated with such a prestigious food project, which further consolidated our good relationship with a local client.”