A 21-year-old from Marlow has been at the helm of a family-run cheesemaking business for over a year – and has big plans for its future.

The Marlow Cheese Co. was founded by Lynda and James Hill in 2016 after a cheese-making course sparked an interest and subsequent career change for former M&S employee Lynda that has since blossomed into an award-winning business.

Lynda sadly passed away in 2022, leaving James to take charge of dairy operations, and after years on the fringes of the family enterprise, their daughter Chloe assumed ownership of the company last year – officially becoming the youngest cheesemaker in the UK.  

True to its name, the company is a devotedly local operation, sourcing milk from Lacey’s Farm in Lane End and running a tight three-person ship – just James, Chloe and her uncle, whom she often recruits for help in the surprisingly arduous task of crafting hard cheeses.

The 21-year-old had previously trained as a hairdresser, skills that don’t readily translate over to cheesemaking, and as such has learned everything she knows from her parents or while on the job. Nonetheless, it is a vocational career – she enjoys the meditative physicality of the process as well as bringing a younger, social media-minded attitude to proceedings.

“It was quite intense – I went from working for someone else in a hairdresser to basically owning a business. There’s a lot of responsibility that comes with that.

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“Before I started here, my dad was just focused on making the cheese and getting it out, but the best way to get new customers is through getting your name out there. We were on the Food Network’s Roux Down the River programme last month, which was a great opportunity, and I want to make TikToks about what a day in my life is like too – I think people would be surprised by the amount of cleaning involved!”

She’s proud of her ‘youngest cheesemaker in the UK’ title, but primarily because she hopes it will inspire others – especially young women – to consider a similar path, carrying on the legacy of her co-founding mother and continuing to build the still-burgeoning business.

“I’d like to start doing apprenticeships to show people how to make cheese and maybe give them a qualification at the end of it. Being a cheesemaker is quite rare, especially being a female cheesemaker. I had no idea I was the youngest in the UK, but it’s quite the title. I think my mum would be happy.”

Chloe recently bought a van and is in the process of transforming it into a cheese toastie food truck – perfect for Marlow’s packed events calendar – and is optimistic about the long-term growth of the company, buoyed by the “loveliness” of the area it is named after.

“We’re very lucky to have The Marlow Cheese Co. name – it has a high profile and being so closely linked with the town does a lot for us. I’ve lived here since I was three or four – it’s a really nice area to grow up in and it turns out it’s a great place to have a local business too.”