It’s a few months since our last news item and once again Christmas is nearly here!

The reason that several weeks seem to elapse between news updates is that we are constantly busy! The shop in Tetbury continues to thrive, which is heartening, particularly since several local retailers are reporting a downtrade in business for the year 2004. There could be many reasons for this (an unsettled summer and wet autumn, too many empty shops, failure to keep abreast of modern retailing trends). We know that poor business is not confined to Tetbury and that global issues also have a part to play (war in Iraq, economic downturn, etc.). However, 2005 looks as though it may be a good year for the town with the opening of several new shops in premises which have lain vacant for some time and which are being given a new lease of life. Visitors to the town next year – you will find plenty to interest you!

Internet business is brisk and many customers have taken advantage of our free offers to place substantial orders. We feel it’s a pity, though, that some people still continue to order very small amounts of cheese which cost less than the postage required to send them! Already Christmas orders are arriving steadily and we can foresee several sleepless nights in the week running up to Christmas itself as we spend the ‘wee hours’ packing up dozens of parcels …

If you would like to place an order for Christmas, please check the relevant section of our site for last posting dates.

As we will be working extremely hard in the shop during December, may we ask customers who will be receiving parcels from us NOT to telephone us regarding the progress of these in the Royal Mail’s delivery system. Please e-mail us and we promise to handle your query as soon as we can. Similarly, customers wishing to place orders with us via the telephone are advised that we would much prefer orders to be placed online. If you are reading this, it means that there should be no problem placing an order online as you must have a computer!! We simply cannot cope with dozens of telephone queries!

Another major part of our business this year has been the current trend for wedding cakes made of cheese. If you have never heard of these, you can find out about them on the relevant page of our website! In February 2005 we will be exhibiting some of these cakes at a local Wedding Fair just outside Tetbury, so look out for more photos in early spring!

Our regular customers will know that we normally close for a much-needed break during January and February and, again, details of closing dates will shortly be posted on our website.

We take this opportunity to thank all our readers, customers, and admirers for their support and to wish them a very happy Christmas 2004 and all the best for 2005.