SETTLE cheese shop The Courtyard Dairy has won the title of north-west regional winner in the Farm Shop & Deli Awards, which aim to showcase the very best food retailers and specialist food shops.

The judges were particularly impressed by the way shop supports unique and small farmhouse cheese-makers in Britain, and its focus on supplying rare and unusual cheese of only the highest quality.

Courtyard Dairy director Kathy Swinscoe was thrilled to accept the title. She said: “Receiving this prestigious award was a wonderful surprise.”

“We are really pleased that the judges recognised our commitment to supporting the makers of rare and unusual, traditional farmhouse cheeses, and supplying our customers with only the absolute best cheeses available.”

The nine Farm Shop & Deli Awards regional winners will now go through to the final, and a chance to win the coveted title of Farm Shop & Deli Awards Retailer of the Year. The national winner will be announced at the Farm Shop & Deli Show on Monday, April 20, at Birmingham’s NEC.

The chairman of the judges, BBC Radio 2 food and drink journalist Nigel Barden, said: “There are some truly brilliant regional winners offering a great service to their community, but also worthy of destination shopping. The British food and drink offer has never been better, as richly illustrated by the Farm Shop & Deli Awards Regional Winners.”

The Courtyard Dairy was set up in December 2012 by Andy and Kathy Swinscoe, with the ethos to champion rare and unique cheeses that are still being made by hand on the farm.

Kathy said: “Many of our cheeses are unique, and people have never heard of them before, and that’s because we work with small farms that often only have 40 to 50 cows and are often the last in the area making unpasteurised cheese by hand.”

The Courtyard Dairy not only supplies direct to the public through the shop and online, but also to top-class restaurants throughout the north of England.

Andy visits each cheese-maker regularly and spends time working alongside them. He said: “I need to ensure that I fully understand the nature of each cheese, so that I can use the skills I acquired as a student of Hervé Mons in France to further age and mature the cheese.

"That way, every cheese we sell will have a flavour that is delicious, special and unique.”