PICTURED: FLORENCE MILLS AND ELOISE ROCHER.
Jermyn Street’s Open Door Series will be honouring the brands and businesses that make our street the home of gentleman’s style, and the pinnacle of British craftsmanship, by spotlighting your favourite brands, and the people behind them, as we get ready to invite you through our doors once more!
Paxton and Whitfield had humble beginnings, starting life as a market stall in Aldwych in 1742. They have grown over the past 200 years to become a leading cheesemonger, and today they are the holder of two Royal Warrants and are a staple of Jermyn Street.
Paxton and Whitfield was started by Stephen Cullum, whose son Sam had a nose for business and moved his family cheesemonger to London to be closer to their wealthy clientele. Their first permanent location was at 18 Jermyn Street – a stone’s throw from their current iconic store at 93 Jermyn Street – and the business gained two new partners at this time, Harry Paxton and Charles Whitfield, whose names adorn the shopfront to this day. The business’s soaring reputation as a supplier of fine cheese resulted in them receiving their first Royal Warrant from Her Majesty Queen Victoria in 1850. Since then, they have received seven more Royal Warrants, including the two they hold today!
Paxton and Whitfield’s rise was not without its ups and downs. The 1860s saw elegant society’s appetite for British farmhouse cheeses wane in favour of European imports, and Britain saw a rise in large-scale production, which drove many artisan cheeses to extinction as small producers started to send their milk to large commercial creameries. This continued throughout both World Wars and, during WWII, Paxton and Whitfield stopped selling cheese all together in favour of other everyday staples like eggs and butter which were in short supply. After this difficult period in Paxton and Whitfield’s, and Britain itself’s history, things picked up. Paxton and Whitfield passed through a number of different hands but they were able to renew their contacts with traditional British cheesemakers and also began sourcing the finest cheese the Continent had to offer. In 1997 the business celebrated its bicentenary and in 2009 formed an alliance with famed Parisian cheesemongers Androuet.
The Paxton and Whitfield of today sources and matures the finest artisan cheeses available. Their store on Jermyn Street, and the fantastic team that runs it, is a testament to their success. They have an additional hub in the Cotswolds where their knowledgeable cheesemongers hand-cut and package your online orders in innovative sustainable packaging, and their hampers, cheese club, and boards are exceptionally popular. They also offer a delicious selection of luxury fine foods and wines, and their Jermyn Street store staff are happy to help with pairings. Paxton and Whitfield have been through many different hands, times and ups and downs, but they still fundamentally do exactly what they’ve always done – supply fabulous cheese to a discerning clientele.