Cream of the crop

Directly employing nearly 200 staff, its outstanding produce has an international profile that the Cistercian monks who first produced its famous cheese nine centuries ago could never have imagined.

Now latest figures reveal its huge influence on other businesses in the dale as it puts more than 11m into the local economy through milk payments to more than 50 farms, wages and purchases.

In turn, this keeps local farms in business which might otherwise struggle since many are typically smaller operations than the national average. Many are also family run, allowing generations of local people to stay in the dale and keep family and community ties strong. On top of this, the firm further adds to the local economy through tourism as the creamery in Hawes is also a popular attraction, with 200,000 visitors each year.

Rural communities have suffered grievously in recent years as families are forced to move out due to high property prices, transport links are severed and employment opportunities curbed.

The impact of responsible businesses like the Wensleydale Creamery is an example for others.

But it must also serve as a lesson to Government and other public bodies about how targeted investment helping business – for instance, through broadband – can have dramatic and far-reaching benefits for rural economies.