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Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses has officially opened a new, integrated Cheese Campus in Lancashire, two years after a fire destroyed its Longridge office and packing site, marking a major investment in automation, sustainability, and workforce development.

The campus was inaugurated this week by His Majesty King Charles III.

The facility consolidates all stages of production – from milk intake and grading to maturation, cutting and packing – into a single site, with a purpose-built maturation shed tailored to the requirements of the company’s hard, blue and soft cheeses, including Blacksticks Blue, Tunworth and Trotter Hill.

The campus signals a significant step in operational resilience and efficiency. Consolidation into a single site is expected to cut road traffic and food miles by around 50% compared with the previous two-location set-up.

The rebuild also prioritised local sourcing, with 80% of construction work carried out by Lancashire businesses, strengthening regional supply chain ties.

“Rather than replacing what we lost in the fire, we have chosen to make a generational investment for the long term,” said Matthew Hall, fourth-generation owner. “Our campus represents everything we stand for – respect for our craft, belief in the resilience of our people, and a long-term commitment to doing things the right way.”

The site incorporates modern technology alongside traditional cheesemaking methods, ensuring consistent product quality while enabling enhanced traceability and operational monitoring.

In addition, the campus is designed to support new training and career opportunities, including roles in data science and AI, reflecting a growing trend among artisanal food producers to integrate advanced technologies into production.

Despite the disruption caused by the fire, Butlers maintained supply continuity to its customers throughout the rebuild, a point of reassurance for retail and foodservice partners reliant on consistent artisan cheese production.

The opening underscores the resilience of family-owned manufacturers in the UK dairy sector and highlights the potential for investing in integrated, sustainable production facilities that marry craft expertise with modern operational efficiencies – a model that may increasingly appeal to both retailers and co-manufacturers seeking stable, high-quality suppliers.

The campus is now fully operational, positioning Butlers to expand output, improve sustainability performance, and strengthen its artisan cheese credentials both domestically and in export markets.