Dairy Partners to build £15m cheese factory near Stroud

A huge £15m cheese production facility is to be built on a greenfield site in Gloucestershire.

Dairy Partners, a British dairy company manufacturing Mozzarella and pizza cheese products, has appointed Pentadel Project Management to design and deliver its new headquarters near Stroud.

The 7,000m2 facility, located on a 2.1-hectare site just outside Stonehouse, will include production; storage and logistics areas; offices; a test kitchen; and a café.

According to Dairy Partners, the building will also provide scope for expansion with usable areas set aside for future production lines and new freezer equipment. The facility is currently under construction and is set to be completed in Q1 2022.

The family-owned business, which employs around 100 people, said the new HQ would provide a "healthy, comfortable" place for staff to work.

The company said the building would also include:

• Roof lights to allow natural daylight to be dropped into the double-height production hall as well as the first-floor offices
• High internal spaces to create an airy, spacious feel
• An open-plan terrace to the office and reception entrance with bespoke staircase
• A café and a viewing gallery on the production floor

The production facility will also include office space (Dairy Partners and Pentadel)

• A central roof apex in reference to archetypal industrial buildings, particularly local through Stroud Mills

• Solar panels and a rainwater harvesting system for toilet flushing

• Heat recovery from thermal emitting plant and equipment will be used to provide hot water in the offices as well as pre-heating water for the boilers

“We are delighted to be working with Pentadel on our new facility that will not only underpin the future of Dairy Partners but also help attract people to come and work with us,” said Robert Peel, director and co-founder at Dairy Partners.

“The Pentadel team really understood our vision with an intelligent design concept that will deliver engineering and energy efficiency as well as creating an inviting and dynamic place for us all to work.

"This will help meet global customer demand for years to come as well as demonstrate that we are committed to being a sustainable business and employer.”

James Kemp, managing director of Pentadel, said the scheme would place "people and the planet" at the heart of the design process.

He added: We have worked hard to ensure that this building brings to life Dairy Partners’ core belief that its business should provide not just healthy, high quality produce, but healthy, high-quality employment well into the future."