Dairy Crest has hired another iconic British star to front one of its major brands by signing up Oscar-nominated actor Pete Postlethwaite to promote Cathedral City.

Postlethwaite, best known for his roles in Brassed Off, The Usual Suspects and the Sharpe series, will provide the voiceover for a new ad titled A Slice of Britain. Airing from 9 November, the ad highlights the key role played by the cheese in modern British life.

The campaign is part of a £10m relaunch for the £195m Cheddar brand market leader and will be backed by posters and radio advertising as well as in-store activity, social networking and PR. Cathedral City will appear in new packaging from later this month.

The capture of Postlethwaite comes after Dairy Crest signed up former Sex Pistol John Lydon to promote Country Life butter.

“A Slice of Britain is about the role of cheese in those everyday, ordinary moments in which we all find a little bit of happiness,” said Cathedral City group brand manager Jackie Wilson.