BOSSES at a family run firm in Bury have gone back to the future to put groceries on the borough's tables in lockdown.

Dunsters Farm, based in Waterfold Park, started out delivering milk to households in 1963.

And since then it has become a leading distributor of chilled and ambient foods, business to business, for the wider industry.

Now three generations on, the venture is returning to its roots to meet demand during the coronavirus crisis.

Working with an e-commerce consultancy, PushON, and A Story Called, specialists in web development, the firm has diversified from supplying hotels, restaurants, catering firms, schools, colleges and hospitals to the domestic market.

Hannah Barlow, their joint managing director, said: "We had been considering launching an online service to take household orders for a while now – this line of work is in the business’ DNA after all, with my grandfather having started it as a milk round. When the crisis hit and we saw how much trouble people were having getting hold of the essentials they needed without compromising their health, we knew it was time.

"We’ve worked hard to get this service up and running as quickly as possible and it is paying dividends – the feedback we are receiving from customers has been brilliant and it is great to know we are doing something to help the community cope during this difficult time.”

Simon Wharton, managing director at PushON, added: “Our consultancy team worked tirelessly to assess and realise Dunster’s Farm’s potential to perform as a direct-to-consumer business.

"They already had plans to launch a consumer delivery service when they came to us but were simply taking orders via a phone number on the site. They now have an effective eCommerce-solution, which was realised in a very short period of time."

The company's new web platform is now offering pick-ups at their farm warehouse or deliveries across Bury, Manchester, Stockport, Wigan, Leigh, Bolton, Rochdale and Oldham.