Profits up at Wallace & Gromit dairy
Wensleydale Dairy Products has increased profits after success in a HSBC competition. Managing director David Hartley told Insider the dairy had since increased its branding and run a promotion with cheese-loving cartoon combo Wallace & Gromit.
Wensleydale was a regional winner in HSBC's Business Thinking competition, securing a funding line and prize money.
"Our business plan that was submitted under the Business Thinking project coincided with an application to HSBC about the redevelopment of the site here in Hawes," said Hartley.
"That was to bring outside storage onto site by building a new cheese store."
The £600,000 project completed in November and Hartley said the benefit was being felt on the bottom line at the £21.5m-turnover company.
"We've had a more successful year than we had last. Profits are up from a similar turnover. In the last year we've put a lot of work into branded activity. We launched a blue cheese and did a major Wallace and Gromit promotion."
The link-up with the famous animation is well established, as Hartley explained.
"We've had a close link with Wallace and Gromit since 1996 when Aardman Animations launched a Close Shave."
Now the business has launched a form of packaging for real Wensleydale product and promoted it with a cookbook called Wallace & Gromit's Cheesy Cookbook.
