Delicious, fresh, traceable and sustainable, all words that can be applied to Bidlea Milk. And all of importance to today’s consumers.

Based in Holmes Chapel, Cheshire, the Bidlea Herd can be traced back 100 years; thriving on the lush, green grass of the Cheshire plains. Fast forward three generations to the current day and Adam and Becky Brown are building on the innovations of their predecessors. Thus ensuring that the Bidlea name is still leading the way in the dairy industry.

Bidlea milk remains very much a family concern. With Adam’s parents Jill and Ray, siblings Mel and Ryan, and sister-in-law Becky, ensuring the smooth running of the farm and herd.

A long-held dream of Adams was to sell milk direct to customers in the local area. Stage one of this plan was completed in 2018. With the addition of a custom-built, state of the art dairy barn.

‘This was a key development for us’, says Adam. ‘It allows us to process all of the milk from our girls directly on our farm. Ensuring that we keep their milk as fresh as possible, free from any nasty additives or preservatives.’

New markets and the COVID impact

‘It opened up a whole range of markets to us, supplying milk, butter and cheese to local restaurants, pubs, café’s and farm shops. We were worried at the start of the year when COVID hit and many of our customers were forced to close. But we’ve actually seen a 6-fold increase in the amount of milk we’ve sold.’

‘In times of stress, it’s well known that the British populous reach for a cup of tea to provide comfort. Kantar data shows that an estimated 2.9 billion cups of tea were drank over the peak lockdown period (21% up on the same period last year). We’re really pleased to have been able to play a small role in providing comfort to the nation.’

‘We were also able to further support the community. This was through the creation of a temporary milk vending machine. Alongside a supply of local produce, such as eggs and vegetables.’

‘Our customers had confidence in our COVID safe shopping environment. It went down really well. So well, in fact, that it has given us the confidence to create our own permanent Milk Bar. We’ll stock all the well-loved Bidlea products, including our delicious flavoured milk and new addition, Bidlea mozzarella.’

Milk bar machines

‘We used ASHBROOK back in 2018. This was to help shape the groundworks and provide machinery hire for the creation of the dairy barn. So, we didn’t hesitate in getting in touch. ASHBROOK have helped to get us off the ground in this next phase of our development’, says Adam.

James Ashbrook, ASHBROOK Managing Director notes, ‘we’ve always had close links to the farming community. Which means, it’s great to be able to support innovation and development, such as this’.

‘As much of the job is working at height, we’ve supplied a 14m JCB telehandler (JCB 540-140) and a 63ft boom.’

‘We actually have one of the largest telehandler fleets available to hire, in the UK. Therefore whatever the height you wish to reach, or the weight you wish to lift, we’ve got an option for you. They’re all supplied by JCB. Meaning our customers are assured of the best in manoeuvrability, visibility and efficiency to get their jobs done. It also comes with the added benefit of JCB LiveLink technology. This means we can keep an eye on the performance of the machine from a distance.’

‘The boom is a SKYJACK SJ63AJ, which is a diesel articulating boom. They’re ideal for outside work where both height and reach are needed, such as this. It also boasts 4×4 functionality, so that movement around a potentially muddy site is quick and easy.’

The future

Adam concludes by saying ‘we aim to finish the Milk Bar throughout the Autumn. So that it can be ready for an official opening at Christmas. We are really excited by this next development for the Bidlea Team and look forward to what 2021 has in store for us.’

To hire a JCB telehandler or a SKYJACK boom please call our knowledgeable team today or request an online quote by clicking the ‘Get a Quote’ button on the product pages.