New jobs for Northumberland cheese firm with five-figure slice of rural business funding

A cheese manufacturer is set to create new jobs after tripling production capacity at its North East base.

Northumberland Cheese Company has recruited two new members of staff with plans to hire three more after investing in its Blagdon premises, after receiving over £90k in funding from The Rural Growth Network.

Following the funding, the firm has tripled its production capacity after investing in a range of new equipment.

Northumberland Cheese Company managing director, Jackie Riley, explained: “The grant funding has meant that we were able to bring forward our plans to replace and upgrade our production equipment, rather than being limited to what we could produce.

“We finished installation in mid-October and it is having a big impact on our operations already.

“The funding we received through the Rural Growth Network has been crucial in allowing us to realise our ambitions for the site to enable us to increase our turnover and profit margins.

The team provided us with the advice and support we needed to make a successful application and have supported us all the way through the project.“

Rural Growth Network manager Katy McIntosh, at Advance Northumberland commented: “The Rural Growth Network was designed to help SMEs in our region to realise their potential, creating jobs for people in Northumberland, County Durham and Gateshead.”

“Northumberland Cheese has a commitment to staying as local as possible in everything they do, including the milk that they use.

“This investment will enable them to dramatically increase sales and profits, which has a beneficial knock-on effect to regional suppliers and their staff, who own a 15 per cent share in the business, including the five who will be employed as a direct result of this investment.”