Rippon CheeseStores

Phillip and Karen Rippon opened Rippon Cheese Stores on Upper Tachbrook Street in 1990, a short walk from Victoria station. Behind the shop's blue frontage and curtained doorway sits a refrigerated cheese room stocking close to 500 varieties, weighted toward British and French producers, alongside jams, chutneys and crackers. Staff cut and wrap to order and talk customers through a selection rather than leave them to guess. The shop supplies restaurants and caterers on a wholesale basis and builds tiered cheese wedding cakes to order. Trade picks up through December, when regulars stock up for Christmas. The Rippons have run the shop themselves from this address since opening.