Moz Murphy is the founder of Grate, a local, independent, and female-led artisan cheese shop in Jesmond, Newcastle
Caroline Dask
Journalist at Luxe
There’s something to be said about all the businesses that have opened right before and during the pandemic of COVID-19. There’s more to be said about the people behind these businesses who have managed to achieve wonderful things in times of uncertainty and adversity.
No exception to that is a local cheese shop – Grate. It’s a charming corner of Jesmond, full of character, personality and friendliness. As I step inside, I’m greeted by warm smiles and rustic and authentic decor. And cheese! So much cheese!
Moz Murphy is the founder and face of the business. Originally from Ireland, she found home in the North East and after years of switching between different paths life has taken her, 4 years ago, she settled on an idea to open her own cheese shop.
And cheese she knows! Having achieved level two at the Academy of Cheese, she is quick to come up with recommendations based on her customer’s unique tastes and that is just one of the many charming aspects of her business…
Tell me about the beginning of Grate Newcastle, how did you come up with the idea to open a cheese shop?
To put it into simple words, I got sick of working for other people! Before opening Grate in Newcastle, I worked at Fenwick and some other cheese counters in the North East. I have also worked in customer service and found it quite soulless, so I just thought to myself ‘What do I actually want to do with my life?’
And then, with the support of friends and family, I’ve decided to open Grate. I didn’t really understand why there was a lack of cheese shops in the North East, so I figured, I’ll fill the gap. So, I quit my job, got a business loan, got a business advisor, and got a lot of help and support from Start-Up North East. They were holding my hand every step of the way, which I was and am so grateful for.
The next step was finding the premises and that took some time. Initially, I wanted to be in the city centre, but lockdown happened and complicated things quite a bit. However, a space in Jesmond came on the radar and I just went for it.
In August 2020, I got the keys, renovated everything, and opened in October of the same year.
How has it been since you’ve opened?
When I first opened, it was the right time, as people had been cooped up in their houses because of the pandemic, so now, they had money to spend and wanted a treat, so I was doing a lot of Saturday night cheese boards and stuff like that. It was an incredibly busy month.
The first day we opened, I had half a cup of tea and a bite of a sandwich the whole day, because it was just non-stop. The whole month of October was like that and then, when we got closer to Christmas, the government announced another lockdown and I thought it would be fine because I had a lot of Christmas orders, but with the lockdown happening so quickly, I suddenly had no customers.
That period was really difficult. Around the same time, I got rushed to the hospital due to health issues, which prevented me from being able to work. If it wasn’t for my friends, who worked on their days off to keep the shop open, we would have had to close it within the first year. Their help and support means so much to me.
Fast forward to now, we have around 30 to 40 people waiting in the queue. There are days when we’re really busy and days when it’s a bit quiet. Things were really difficult during the energy crisis, as this happened in summer, which tends to be a quiet period for Grate, but thankfully, I was able to rely on crowdfunding donations to keep things going.
Seems like the locals are very passionate about Grate!
Yes, I have wonderful customers. It just makes me think that if I had opened Grate in Newcastle city centre, I would have been out of business because once lockdown happened, the city centre was closed down. I would not have the family feel of the shop I have now.
There are a lot of customers I know by name and I think because we’re in a quite residential area, yet close to other amenities, people are invested in us. I think they see that Grate is an independent, female-led business and they want to support it. The crowdfunding donations were a wonderful example of that.
And supporting independent businesses is not easy. We are more expensive because we have to be. But at the same time, I think it’s important to invest in good quality food. It’s important to know where your food comes from and the value of it.
It’s important to me that people understand why what I sell is more expensive and why it’s valuable to spend that money. I’m not saying that every time you make a cheesecake you could buy £6 tub of ricotta. But maybe once in a while, so you can taste the difference and understand which one is better.
What I’ve been trying to do here at Grate, particularly with British and Irish cheese, is push the idea that traditional methods, old-fashioned methods, and high animal welfare, all of those things come out in food.
Do you feel as though nowadays people are more mindful of what they consume?
Absolutely. I think the expectations of what we consume have really shifted in the last 10 or 15 years. Almost all of the British cheese that I sell comes from independent small producers with their own herds of cattle, sheep and goats. I deal directly with them, there’s no middleman, and I know and trust their product.
It’s a very gratifying position to be in. And I’m not a big name in the scene yet, but it’s really nice to have spent years building up those relationships because then I feel like there’s more trust between me and the person who’s making the cheese, and therefore between me and the person who’s buying the cheese.
You know, if I say it’s the best thing you’re gonna eat all week, you know I’m telling the truth. I don’t want to shift over left stock. If it’s not good, I’m not going to sell it. Maybe that’s not a very good business approach, but I’m not in this to make money.
There’s a great quote from Anthony Bourdain: “You have to be a romantic to invest yourself, your money, and your time in cheese.”
Talking about business, how does it feel to have your own shop?
This might not translate well, but it’s the best and the worst thing ever. It’s the most exciting thing I’ve ever done, and the most terrifying. There are a lot of sleepless nights, especially when I’ve employed people, and when you’re responsible for them, it can be scary.
But it’s also navigating the world of social media, and business management and everything that comes with it, it really is quite a lot. I think social media is an interesting part of the business. Sometimes I can share a beautiful image of cheese and it doesn’t do well and sometimes I share something personal about myself and it receives a lot of recognition.
So, when people walk in, they might already be familiar with me and Grate. And that’s what I want. I don’t want people to feel intimidated when they walk in, but I understand how it might be since you’re stepping over the threshold into someone’s domain.
But here, at Grate, we’re very casual. If you like cheese but don’t know much about it, I’m more than happy to tell you about it. We all started somewhere.
What can you tell me about the products you stock?
Our tagline is that we champion British and Irish cheese. That wasn’t my intention when I started but when we went into lockdown, British cheese was really hard hit as they didn’t have all the restaurants to sell to. A lot of them struggled and I thought this was my opportunity to support them.
That being said, we don’t make Manchego, or Comté, or Emmental. So, we’ll always have these classics because there isn’t a good British alternative. There are a few places here that do Parmesan and Mozzarella, but I still think the Italian one is better. The day I find a better local alternative, I’m dropping the Italian one because if the British one is better, why wouldn’t you want to support it?
When I first opened, I had British and French brie, so if people asked for it, I would give them the English one, as I think it’s better. And now we don’t stock the French one anymore because Baron Bigod is better.
We’ll sell the French one at Christmas because you kind of have to. But it’s been really empowering to support British and Irish products.
What does your typical day look like?
So one of the most empowering things about being your own boss is that I can make decisions without going to a committee. So, I open the shop at 11 am because, realistically, no one buys cheese before work. It’s quite nice as I don’t have to commute at rush hour.
I get to Grate at 10 am and spend my morning unpacking deliveries, date checking and quality checking, which means that, yes, I eat cheese first thing in the morning and I love it!
Depending on the day of the week, there will be some customer orders to put together. I work with a company called Bud Couriers. They’re a bicycle courier that operates in Newcastle, so they deliver to all my restaurant partners, such as Cook House, Long Friday, Ophelia in Gosforth and a few others.
Some days I spend more time filling out paperwork, some days it’s all about customers, especially on Saturdays. So for days like this, I spend my mornings making sure the shop is fully stocked and ready.
Do you have a healthy work-life balance?
Absolutely not. I am very much addicted to my phone. I feel like I need to be connected a lot of the time. I’m working hard to not do that but it’s very difficult. I also live by myself, so it can be quite difficult to get motivated to do something outside of sitting in your PJs all day.
But in my free time, I do try to do something that’s not work-related. So, I’ve started cold water swimming in the sea. I’ve been doing that for about a year off and on. I live in South Shields so I’m right next to the beach.
Also, I sing a lot, so I’m in a few different choirs, which do wonders for me when I’m having a difficult day. I can just go, meet these people, switch off and just sing for a few hours.
My absolute passion is restaurants. I love cooking but if I could, I would eat out five nights a week. I just recently went to Pine in Northumberland for my birthday. It was an unbelievable experience. Some of the most exciting food I’ve ever eaten.
Who has been your support system throughout the journey of Grate?
My family have been very supportive, although they live quite far away. But they’re always at the end of the phone anytime I need it. I’ve got four older brothers. If we hadn’t opened in lockdown, they’d have been here helping me build this. But it was nice when, post-lockdown, they came to see it and were very proud of me.
Everything you see in the shop was me. The walls, the floors, the pictures on the walls, everything. So when they saw it, it was quite a moment for me because I was the youngest, flitting between jobs, never really having a career, and now I’ve found my niche. My brothers are older so they’re all retiring, while I’m just starting out. And I’m incredibly proud of what I’ve achieved!
I have some incredible friends, ones that helped me when I was in the hospital and people that I have met through singing. They’re all incredible.
One thing that I will say, though, it’s hard doing this single. I’ve had some good relationships in and around setting the business, but sometimes when it’s a Saturday, it would be so lovely to go home to a meal that’s been cooked for me, and a glass of wine. That would be bliss.
How can people support you?
Just shop with us and know that by doing that you’re getting a great, quality product and supporting local, independent businesses.
I’d love to do a bit more corporate stuff, so women’s networking groups, wedding fairs, that kind of thing, but again, it’s time I’m taking out from the shop. It’s not very sustainable and I can’t do this often.
What are your plans for the future?
I’d like to develop Grate a bit more towards leisure. So, maybe a new premises that we can have seating in. Maybe a license, so we can sell wine in the evenings, be more like a wine bar and do wine and cheese evenings. We did them through the start of the year and they proved to be quite popular, so we’ll pick this back up in September.
Of course, as lovely as this sounds, it all requires time and more people. I’d love to get to a point where I am financially stable enough to have somebody else in to help me.
And finally, what’s your favourite type of cheese?
I have many! I think cheese is so personal and so diverse. The thing I love most about it is that everything that you see on the counter is made from the same type of ingredients – milk, salt, rennet and starter culture. So, depending on what you do to milk, and when you do it, at what temperature, and at what size, you get Mozzarella to Parmesan, which are worlds apart, but they’re all the same product.
The cheese that made me realise I wanted to work in cheese was Montgomery cheddar from Somerset. It was the first cheese I got when I was opening the shop. It changed my life because I tried it thinking I knew what cheddar was because we all think we know what cheddar is, and it blew my mind. This is where my foodie journey began.
*Featured Photo credit: Kim Bainbridge, @kimbainbridgephotography
