Occumster cheese factory destroyed by blaze
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THE future of a Caithness cheese factory looks uncertain after the premises were completely destroyed by fire.
The blaze swept through Sandy and Sandra Sutherland’s business at The Moorings, Occumster, on Tuesday night – wiping out years of hard work at the couple’s busiest time of the year.
Mr Sutherland (67) described the experience as “torture” and told the John O’Groat Journal he isn’t sure the Caithness Cheese business can survive.
The couple, who live just 50 yards from the factory on their 50-acre farm, first noticed it was on fire when Mrs Sutherland (52) was outside at 6.39pm.
She ran to tell her husband and immediately rang the emergency services, and fire crews from Wick and Dunbeath attended. However, the building and the contents inside, which were estimated to be worth a five-figure sum, were left devastated.
Mr Sutherland explained: “We’ve no idea how the fire started, the first thing we knew about it is when Sandra walked outside and saw the flames coming out of the building. We had been walking back and forth from the premises all day as we were preparing to get ready for the Christmas markets and there had been no signs of a fire starting.
“We only live next door to the factory, but it wasn’t until my wife told me the building was on fire I knew anything about it. The premises have been completely burnt to the ground and I am unsure if we are going to be able to recover from it, we have suffered a total loss.
“At this stage, I have absolutely no idea what is going to happen to the future of our business and the family cannot take in what has happened.”
Mr Sutherland launched the company with his wife in 1993 and said they were enjoying one of their best years in business, having recently secured contracts with the House of Bruar in Perthshire and Brodie Countryfare, near Forres.
The business was run by the couple and their two sons, Graham (25) and Stefan (23), who planned to carry on when their parents retired.
The family was planning to take its produce to Christmas markets in Aberdeen and Elgin later this month.
The factory was joined to a cattle shed where the company kept its livestock of 20 Friesian cows – the two sons were able to rescue them in time and move them to safety.
However, all the cheese that was made, including equipment used in production, has been destroyed.
After a successful year, Mr Sutherland said December was on course to be the firm’s most profitable month, but now this is no longer the case.
“To put it simply, this is torture,” he said. “This was the biggest month of the year for us, it could not have happened at a worst time.
“All I can do now is get my wits about me and see if it is possible to start again and make a living out of the business. But I really don’t know at the moment what the future will hold for us, after all our hard years of work, everything came to a stop at 7pm that night.”
