# Millway (Dairy Crest) Cheese Factory, Leicestershire - May 09



## 85 Vintage (May 29, 2009)

I really thought i'd put pics up on here from previous visits, but obviously not lol. I visited it first back in 2007 and it was my second explore, I visited again a year later with a slightly better camera and then another visit recently. Between the visits the site has got more trashed each time which is a shame, but it's how things go I suppose. Have done a bit of research and have come up with a bit of info to share.



> Millway Foods at Harby began life as a small dairy in 1918 after 12 farmers got together to make Stilton. In 1974 it changed sites from Watson Lane to a purpose built factory in 1974.



It gets a bit interesting now, because the current building is the one they moved to in 1974. But it was built by/for Unigate as their name is on the plans/engineering drawings for the factory. I haven't managed to find any info on Unigate having bought Millway, so maybe Millway got Unigate to build the factory as they had knowledge of what was needed for a large scale cheese factory.

This snippet confused me a bit...


> Millway Foods Ltd was incorporated in 1987 and produced Stilton from a site in Leicestershire


Maybe Unigate had bought Millway Foods and then there was a management buyout or something similar?

In 1989, only 2 years after it was incorporated, Millway Foods was acquired by the large French dairy producer Bongrain. In 1999 Millway was acquired by Dairy Crest for £2.5 million, I found that figure on Dairy Crests Own site, but in the competition commission's report it states the cost to Dairy Crest of acquiring Millway was £9 million.
After acquring Millway, Dairy Crest merged Millway with it's exisiting Stilton and speciality cheese business at Hartington in Derbyshire. The merger created Millway Dairy Crest and following the merger, the site in Leicestershire was closed and Millway Dairy crest (although it was still know as Millway) operated from the Hartington site. From paperwork and calenders I think the Leicestershire site finally closed in May/June 2001.

Since it was incorporated in 1987, Millway made a pre-tax loss every year bar one and in that year the operating profit was only enough to cover interest. Dairy Crest provided IT and human resources support and in the financial year to 31 March 2008, Millway achieved sales of £18.3 million and made an operating loss of £2.6 million. This loss would have been greater if the services provided centrally by Dairy Crest had been re-charged to Millway. It was making a loss for 20 years, even with help from Dairy Crest! I'm surprised it kept going as long as it did.

In August 2008, Long Clawson Dairy acquired the assests and trade of Millway.

There's currently a planning application pending for 36 'dwellings' small workshops and a community information and busniess centre. The application was submitted in Jan 2007 and it's still pending, so can't see it getting consent.

The End
































There were a few of these in the ground floor office area, with different locations on them











In the labs, which seem to have been worst hit damage wise compared to the rest of the site from my first to last visits. Someone decided it was a good idea to smash 2 bottles of sulphuric Acid on the floor and drop one of the small test tubes/vile in an other. Probably hoping for a reaction, a shame it didn't go bang intheir face.















The paperwork used to be in boxes neatly stacked in a cupboard, not anymore 





Onto the worshops and boiler area















All the plans, engineering drawings and manuals for various bits of equipent, these were all in a cabinet last year, the draws have been taken out and the cabinet has gone 





General shots now










Obligatory chair shots



































Hmmm, sounds tasty















Tut tut, Adrian wasn't pleased





Unless I'm going blind these 2 bits have disappeared from the site










The clocking in cards were in the slots on my first visit, all over the floor now and even some outside





Bit late, they'd been gone a year 





My favourite pic, was playing with the camera settings and must've taken this pic about 10 times before I got it how I wanted it





Rest of the pics are here, first Visit, Second Visit, Third Visit. If anyone is interested, here's a link to the complaints commission report.


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## klempner69 (May 29, 2009)

Good effort there indeed,cant say I know of the name of Millway either.


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## Krypton (May 29, 2009)

The labs look great!


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## MD (May 29, 2009)

nice one 
did you find the white clog type shoe thingy?


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## 85 Vintage (May 29, 2009)

MD said:


> nice one
> did you find the white clog type shoe thingy?



I did  Was something that I hadn't seen before.



Krypton said:


> The labs look great!



They were definately better a couple of years back. The site is 'in the middle of knowhere' so to speak, so whoever smashed the place up must've gone there just to do it really, there was pikey damage on my first visit but only damage that was doen in the course of their 'work'.

Thinking about it more now, it was making quite big losses every year and they seemed to increase after Dairy Crest took over. I'm no busniness brain but I can't think of many good reasons to keep a company going after sustaining £millions of losses for more than 8 years in Dairy Crests case, any business brains know of possible reasons why they would?


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## Richard Davies (May 29, 2009)

I've seen a few pics of food factories where all the workers wear white overalls & boots, so you might have seen some kind of overshoe for wearing in certain areas.


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## james.s (May 29, 2009)

Very nice! I never knew they put silver nitrate in cheese


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## Neosea (May 29, 2009)

Good one 85 Vintage.


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## 85 Vintage (May 30, 2009)

Neosea said:


> Good one 85 Vintage.



Cheers amte, fiddling with the cam means I'm actually manging to get shots in the dark now.



james.s said:


> Very nice! I never knew they put silver nitrate in cheese



Think they might have used it in the labs for testing and not in cheese


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