At this year’s World Cheese Awards Luncheon, held on 14th March 2007 at the Pillar Hall, Olympia, a special award for lifetime achievement was presented to Cropwell Bishop’s joint managing director and head of production, Ian Skailes. The brand new John Davidge Award for Exceptional Contribution to Cheesemaking will now grace the Creamery’s sideboard - jostling for room amongst the huge array of silverware and glassware, awards collected over the years.

Ian Skailes has spent the past 25 years perfecting the art of Stilton cheesemaking in his family-run Creamery. With the help of his loyal and dedicated team, Ian has led Cropwell Bishop to triumphs in every major cheese competition. Modest and unassuming, Ian is respected across the industry for his attention to detail and experience in cheesemaking; He was more than a little surprised to be chosen for this trophy but there were certainly no raised eyebrows at the Awards Lunch.

Ian Skailes received his award from John Davidge himself, who said that the trophy was meant for someone giving consistent performance in cheesemaking since the start of the World Cheese Awards and that it could not have gone to a more deserving candidate.

“This Award is a complete and utter surprise, and I am totally delighted. I always consider myself to be just one part of the very dedicated team at Cropwell Bishop and it is such an honour to have my efforts recognised like this. It is our continued focus on quality that produces great cheeses and wins prizes.” Mr Skailes went on to say how important he feels the World Cheese Awards are for the industry: “This competition is an excellent platform to display cheeses and to compare our own UK products with those from around the world and it has done so much over the years to raise the profile of cheesemaking.”

This year’s prize-winning cheeses will be announced at IFE, Excel (17-21 March 2007) and will be displayed in the Dairy Hall at this exhibition.