Create the ultimate Christmas cheeseboard with tips from Harrogate cheese expertA Taste of France in Yorkshire: Champagne + Fromage, HarrogateRestaurant owners track stolen cheese across HarrogateLocal Harrogate expert explains five mysteries of the cheese worldBusiness Q&A: Gemma Aykroyd, The Cheeseboard

This is the latest in a regular series of Business Q&A features published weekly.     

This week we spoke to Gemma Aykroyd, owner of The Cheeseboard in Harrogate.

Tell us in fewer than 30 words what your firm does. 

The Cheeseboard sells more than 200 different types of cheese from around the world, with an emphasis on local food. We also sell condiments to go with them, and other deli foods.

What does it require to be successful in business? 

You’ve got to be organised, patient, love your product, have a passion for it, and have an amazing team behind you to support you and come up with fresh ideas.

What drives you to do what you do every day? 

When I wake up in the morning, I love coming in to work because I love cheese. I have a lot of regular customers, and a lot of visitors to the town come into the shop too, which is great because I love meeting people from all walks of life.

What has been the toughest issue your company has had to deal with over the last 12 months? 

We survived covid, but Brexit means it’s still difficult to get hold of certain cheeses. We used to order from a French supplier on a Tuesday and we’d have the product in the shop by Thursday, just two days later. Now, we order on a Tuesday and we might get it on the Wednesday of the following week – eight days later – if we’re lucky. Our usual Dutch supplier said they could no longer supply direct to us as it had become too expensive, so now we have to go through a wholesaler large enough to be able to absorb the extra costs, and that personal relationship with the small Dutch firm has gone. It’s a real shame.

Which other local firms do you most admire and why? 

We have a real rapport with Ake & Humphris. They do something similar to what we do, but with wine. I love their enthusiasm and knowledge of their product – it’s a lot like ours. We often collaborate doing cheese and wine tastings at Harrogate Cricket Club. We’ve just held one, and the next will be in the summer.

Who are the most inspiring local leaders?

I literally can’t think of anyone. I’ve drawn a blank!

Photo of Gemma Aykroyd, owner of The Cheeseboard in Harrogate.

What could be done locally to boost business? 

Our street is a bit off the beaten track. When people talk about going into Harrogate, they usually mean somewhere near Bettys, so it would be good to get a bit more awareness for other parts of the town, like ours – Commercial Street is great for independent shops.

Also, parking charges are always on the increase and they put people off coming into town, so perhaps free parking on certain days would be a good idea.

Best and worst things about running a business from Harrogate? 

Harrogate is such a beautiful and affluent town – we’re very lucky compared with other towns. It’s a conference town too, which draws people to us.

But perhaps the best thing is our regular customers. We have people who come over to the shop from Manchester, and a regular online customer in the Outer Hebrides.

The worst thing? I can’t think of anything.

What are your business plans for the future? 

The Cheeseboard was founded in 1981 and I’m its fourth owner. I’ve had it since 2000, which means I’ve had it the longest. I have got some plans for the business, but I don’t want to say too much at this stage.

People often ask me why I don’t open another shop, but finding new premises, stocking it and hiring staff can be quite a headache. If I do expand the business, I want to work on events with other local independent businesses.

What do you like to do on your time off? 

I’m engaged and getting married in July, so that’ll keep me busy. Apart from that, I like to be outdoors, keeping fit, walking my dog or playing tennis. And I like to have a few drinks too – especially wine, with cheese.

Best place to eat and drink locally? 

You can’t go wrong with William & Victoria‘s on Cold Bath Road – it’s run to such a high standard. I also like Fisk, the Thai restaurant on Montpellier Mews. There’s a great atmosphere, the service is excellent, and the flavours are outstanding.

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Business Breakfast: Ripon BID launches training hub for teenagers

Business Breakfast is sponsored by Harrogate law firm Truth Legal. 

Ripon BID has launched a training hub with the aim of bringing students and local businesses together.

The Ripon Apprenticeship & Training Hub (RATH) will help engage 14-16 year olds into the work place to promote career development, soft skills and good work ethics.

RATH has been set up by the Ripon Business Improvement District (BID) which was established last year.

The BID said that through paid work placements and close mentoring, students will learn good working standards at the very start of their career paths and businesses will be able to access staff when needed.

Annette Duffy, BID Director and RATH lead says

“We’ve employed students for a few years now with great results. Our recruits have lots of enthusiasm and are keen to learn and I love watching them grown in confidence.

This is an exciting new hub to accelerate these opportunities for local businesses and school children. The website is live and opportunities are already online.”

Alexander Pickering, Ripon Grammar School student on a Specsavers placement adds

“I was thrilled to play a small part in a much bigger team of people at Specsavers, in helping to save someone’s sight. I never expected to learn so much and achieve something so worthwhile during my work experience.”

RATH will be attending the Summer FunFest day on August 18 at Studley Cricket Club and is encouraging students to come down, have a go at the activities and talk to the team about work and training opportunities.

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Cheese auction raises money for Samaritans

Cheese lovers at the Great Yorkshire Show raised over £5,500 for the Samaritans which will go towards supporting rural communities in need.

An auction is held every year in the Cheese and Dairy Section of the Great Yorkshire Show, giving visitors the chance to bid for a round of their favourite cheese.

This year’s auction raised £5,579 which will go to The Samaritan’s Regional Rural Initiative for the benefit of rural communities.

Alison Lumley from the Samaritans of Yorkshire & Humberside Rural Initiative said:

“Thank you for such a generous donation to Samaritans of Yorkshire & Humberside Rural Initiative. The Samaritans understand that those involved in farming or living in rural communities are especially likely to experience isolation and loneliness, on top of all the pressures of work. We know that talking to someone confidentially about your feelings without fear of judgement can be a massive help.

This donation will be used to support our work raising awareness of the benefits to mental health of talking and of the availability of our 24/7, free to access emotional support service.”

The Samaritans can be contacted on the phone free on 116 123 or email  jo@samaritans.org .

 

Stray Foodie Christmas Recipe: Cheese Stollen

Stray Foodie Christmas Recipes are written by Michelin-starred chef, Frances Atkins. In 1997, Frances opened the Yorke Arms near Pateley Bridge, where she was the owner for 20 years. During her ownership, she held her Michelin-star status for 16 of those years.

Over the festive period, I’ll be bringing you some of my favourite seasonal recipes each week. I’d love to see how you make the recipes your own – let me know by using #StrayFoodie or tagging @thestrayferret in your social media posts.

 

This recipe is designed to use all your odds and ends up from the fridge during this period.  Making a tasty base to load on preserves, meats, salad, grains or anything you wish!  We are calling this a Cheese Stollen, a savoury effort modelled on Bettys‘ simply delicious sweet marzipan stollen which is a treat for me every year. We have made a Stollen from a brioche dough and a basic bun dough. It sounds complicated, but it certainly isn’t as you will see as you read through the recipe.

Stollen is traditionally a fruit bread made from spices and candied fruits and by heritage it is Germany’s answer to Italy’s panettoni. At this time of year there seems to be a muddled variety as far as quality and authenticity is concerned.

Our cheese stollen is a brioche wrapped in a bun dough with a small amount of mixed peel, raisins and cheese.

For the Brioche Dough

The ingredients can be halved, but I like to keep a little in the fridge for general use. It is so handy to bring out of the fridge, knead it, shape it and pop it in the oven for that fabulous warm brioche at breakfast.

Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the water and let it work for a couple of minutes.

Add the beaten eggs and pour into a mixing bowl.

Add the flour and salt and mix to a stiff dough either by hand or using the dough hook of an electric mixer.

When the mixture is smooth, beat in the butter in small pieces. The finished dough should have a silky appearance.

Place it in an oiled bowl, loosely cover and rest overnight in the fridge.

For the basic bun 

This bun dough is great for donuts and other buns too.

Dissolve the yeast in the water at blood temperature.

Sieve the flour, sugar and salt into a bowl.

Rub in the butter and then add the eggs.

Add the yeast and enough water to obtain a soft dough.

Cover and rest the dough for 10 mins.

Knead well until the dough becomes firm and springy.

Place in a bowl dusted with flour and allow to rise until double in size –  this should take approximately 30 mins.

Take the rested brioche out of the fridge and knead with flour, then rest again for 30 mins.

Knead the cheese into the brioche and roll into a sausage.

Roll out the dough into a rectangle and egg wash.

Sprinkle over the mixed peel and raisins.

Roll it around your brioche sausage.

With the remaining beaten egg, wash the bun dough.

Place on a baking tray and let it double in size.

Place in a heated oven at 210c and cook for approximately 30 minutes.

When cool, slice and the light cheese brioche with the slight hint of sweetness from the peel and raisins and the crisp bread is simply scrummy!

If you would rather not have the raisins and peel keeping it completely savoury you could use mixed, chopped fresh herbs or a pesto.

If all this is just too much, have a good walk and reward yourself with a lunch or take away at our Paradise Food Wagon, where we will be happy to serve you from Tuesday 29th December.

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