PIKEHALL, England — First the phones fell silent, then the email inbox abruptly emptied of orders. At Hartington Creamery, one of just six companies that produce Britain’s famous blue Stilton cheese, things looked ominous from the moment the coronavirus lockdown began and pubs and restaurants closed. But it was when one customer called not to place an order but to return one for a refund that Robert Gosling, the majority shareholder of Hartington Creamery, knew he was in real trouble. “We had to politely say, ‘You can’t really do that,’” Mr. Gosling said, sitting in a farm building in the scenic Derbyshire countryside. For many parts of the British economy, the coronavirus pandemic has been a brutal master, with the closure of nonessential stores and the tourism and hospitality industries, plunging the economy into free-fall.

Source: New York Times June 19, 2020 15:22 UTC