Oliver Bailey has opened his first shop in Crewe Market Hall in April.

Bailey’s is a hybrid cheese and wine shop operating from the premises previously owned by cheese manufacturer Joseph Heler. “I worked for them and it was one of the shops that I managed,” explains Bailey. 

“At the start of this year they decided they were taking a new direction and having retail storefronts wouldn’t be part of the business anymore. I loved what I did and the fact we brought something completely different to the local area. I’m a big wine lover and I was worried about not being able to get the type of wines I wanted elsewhere.” 

Luckily there was a sizeable customer base that felt the same way, so Bailey decided to take over the premises and add a wine retail element. 

“It used to be more of a wine bar,” he says, “but now we’re about 50% retail and 50% hospitality. We have a very small food offering of charcuterie and grazing boards and traditional things like toasties. And we also have the retail part where we’ve got the cheese counter and the wine. 

“We’re actually going to be increasing our wine range by roughly another 55% in the next few weeks, so we are intending to go quite big. We’ve got about 69 different wines at the moment, and we are increasing that to about 114 for retail.”

Initially built in 1854 as a cheese market, the market hall underwent a regeneration programme in 2021 to support local traders and increase footfall. Bailey describes it as a “dynamic venue” with plenty to attract shoppers. 

“It’s like a multi-functional food and retail market,” he says. “The local football club has its official shop here, there’s a vinyl shop and a number of restaurants, bars and Asian supermarkets. It’s a one-stop shop and there’s always some live entertainment. 

“We’re able to utilise as much space [within the hall] as we want to. We’ve held cheese and wine events in the hall before for 40 people at a time. We are a keyholder so we could run an event after hours and have exclusivity over the building, but we’ve done events while the hall’s been open to other people as well because it’s very much a community building with a community spirit and people love it. It adds something a little different and creates a bit of theatre.”

And what of the extra two sites? Although Bailey has identified new locations, one “a bit further north” and the other “slightly more in the Midlands area”, he’s realistic about future growth. “I’ve got a three-year plan but I don’t want to jinx it, and I don’t want to run before I can walk,” he says. 

“This is the starting point of the journey and where I want to be for another 20 years, so I want to put absolutely everything into here for at least the next 18 months.”