Photo caption: Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the House of Commons meets Jodie Walsh from Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses in Preston. Credit: ©UK Parliament/Andy Bailey

Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses were one of a handful of invited guests of Lancashire County Council, whose lunch reception was held at the House of Commons to celebrate Lancashire Day and the publication of the Lancashire 2050 Framework – a strategy developed by Lancashire's 15 councils to outline the county’s shared vision for the future.

Butlers sampled farmhouse cheeses for MPs, including its signature Blacksticks Blue, delicate Button Mill soft cheese and original Lancashire cheese, ‘Sunday Best’ - a cheese that is handmade at Butlers’ Wilson Fields Farm Dairy to Gran’s original recipe from over 50 years ago.

Matthew Hall, fourth-generation owner at Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses says, “It was an honour to represent all of Lancashire’s fantastic food and producers and celebrate the industry, innovation and community that makes our county special. The renaissance of British cheese is really exciting, and it was a great opportunity for MPs to sample some of our best-loved cheeses and join the farmhouse cheese family!

“Lancashire has such a strong heritage and reputation for agricultural and manufacturing excellence – the foundations of economic health and key to driving economic recovery in the months and years ahead. Our county is a smouldering pot of innovation and opportunity; we need continued investment in our people, skills and infrastructure for the next generation.”