Speciality Food Inspirational Cheese Retailers 2025

That was back in 2020, and it took the couple a while to find the perfect premises for Green & Lovely, while planning, and deciding on exactly what the shop would be. “My vision,” says Paul, “was that I wanted to get good food where we live in East Molesey. I thought, ‘why do I have to get in the car and drive to find it?’. We’re surrounded by gorgeous places – Hampton Court Palace, lots of lovely restaurants and bars - but we didn’t have a decent deli-style shop. I wanted to build the kind of place I’d go to. Not just for the food, but for all the elements of it.” Paul says he was drawn to the idea of supporting the British farming and dairy industry and small producers. “I know how hard they struggle and thought it would be brilliant to help these guys out. Great food, from great people – those are the pillars we started from.” Learning on the job Paul and Lucy weren’t the first people to open a food shop without retail experience, but it didn’t make it any less unnerving. When they welcomed their first customers in 2022, with a modest range of 25 cheeses, Paul says he was terrified. “I’d never done this before. I didn’t knowwhat would sell and what wouldn’t,” he reveals. “But as I was serving people cheeses, giving them little tasters, I saw this magic in their eyes – like they were tasting a little piece of heaven. I thought, ‘this works’.” Through tasting and experimenting, 30 @specialityfood W hen Paul Donoughue returned to the UK, having spent two hard years opening a restaurant and cocktail bar in the Seychelles (no mean feat, he says) following a career in hotels, catering and commercial property, he wasn’t sure what would come next. “After that experience I didn’t want to go into another restaurant or cocktail bar for a while,” he jokes. “I was definitely looking for a change, so I went to see a career consultant, who asked, ‘if you could do anything you wanted, what would it be?’” His top three were an airline pilot, rock star or deli owner. “She looked at me and said, ‘well, two of those are unrealistic’. I came home to my wife with this piece of paper and she said, ‘well, there we are then’.” LOCATION: EAST MOLESEY FOUNDED: 2022 FOUNDER: PAUL AND LUCY DONOUGHUE Green & Lovely THE british cheerleaders “For me, what I love most about being a cheesemonger is realising how happy good cheese makes people. It’s just a joyful thing, and I have such fun with the customers because of the atmosphere in the shop. We talk to them like human beings, and have a laugh with them. We enjoy the experience as much as they do,” says Paul. WHAT I LOVE ABOUT BEING A CHEESEMONGER LONDON & SOUTH