Over the last week, there has been much talk on the airwaves about the Great Cheese Heist. Neal’s Yard Dairy supplied £330,000 worth of artisan cheddar (22 tonnes) to a French wholesaler, only to find that they had been completely conned. Everyone is puzzled by this event and how it could have happened, but sadly it’s an all too familiar story for BAFTS member, Beth Williams, founder and director of Turtle Bags who fell victim to something very similar this summer. After hearing about the Neal’s Yard scam, she wanted to tell fellow BAFTS members what happened to her in the hope that others might be spared the heartache and loss that she has gone through. Here is Beth in her own words:

Around a year ago, I was approached by the head buyer of Showroom Privé who wanted to work with Turtle Bags because of our shared interest in Women’s Rights. They were looking to place a very large order for our hand-woven jute bags.

These beautiful bags are made for us by our partner, Women’s Empowerment Group, in Bangladesh. A few months down the line, we received the big order and a contract, which I had checked with the Federation of Small Businesses.

Payment terms were 21 days from delivery, similar to our terms with Oxfam and Arket.

We were excited and nervous as the order was very big, and we couldn’t afford for any delays in the system. As usual, we paid for the order before it left the shores of Bangladesh.

The bags arrived a week late but Showroom Privé were accommodating and we were able to dispatch to their haulage company, cross referencing the number plate and meeting the driver.

Sadly, we discovered a few weeks later that the whole enterprise was fraudulent and we were not going to be paid for the order.

This knocked the core of the business and frankly my core, too. I am very grateful for our loyal customers who have kept the business afloat in this very difficult time.

Over the last 20 years, the values of trust and humanity have been elemental in Turtle Bags and all those businesses in BAFTS, which made the knock all the harder. I would hate to see other businesses fall prey to these crooks.

This all happened over the summer. Having just heard about the Neal’s Yard fraud, I have been jolted into sharing this with the BAFTS community in the hope that no one else should go through this.

The police have been informed as we have lots of information about where the goods went and who took them, but they have as yet not investigated.

I am hoping that through linking up with Neal’s Yard we can encourage the police to take an interest.

-Beth-

As you can see, there are clear similarities between the two cases. Both companies place a high value on honour and trust, both have paid the artisans who made the products and both have been left devastated by the loss. However, Beth doesn’t have Jamie Oliver or the media on her side, so we are hoping that by reaching out to Neal’s Yard and working together, police interest in her case will be revived and justice will finally be done. In the meantime, Turtle Bags is very much still trading and relying on new orders to build the business back up again. There is a fantastic range of well designed and beautifully crafted products available on the website and every order is greatly appreciated.