The £2m pasty empire responsible for some of Plymouth’s favourite oggies has gone on the market because the couple who founded it are looking to retire. Nigel and Janet Eadie are mulling the sale of the Original Pasty House, with its two outlets in Plymouth and Tavistock.
The business was founded in the South West Devon town in 2003 and expanded into Britain’s Ocean City in 2011. It went on to see turnover hit £2.29m and an annual profit of £195,000, which is “rising”.
The firm was also named producer of Plymouth’s favourite pasty three years in a row from 2017 and regularly appears in lists of the best pasty makers. But its owners are now looking for someone else to take on the business so they can put their feet up.
The business is being advertised for sale on Daltons Business, the UK's largest Business and franchise marketplace, with a leasehold price of £425,000. It is being described as “an outstanding investment and expansion opportunity”.
Mr Eadie told PlymouthLive that he and his wife were exploring options. He said: “Yes, we are considering a sale of The Original Pasty House including both shops in Plymouth and Tavistock - as we wish to retire in the next couple of years.”
The Original Pasty House opened its independent café in the heart of Tavistock in 2003, and expanded into Plymouth city centre’s Armada Way eight years later “providing a warm and welcoming atmosphere to enjoy a delicious cup of coffee and a traditional Cornish pasty ever since”.
The company provides an extensive eat-in and takeaway menu, including a range of pasties, from the traditional steak to the cheese and bacon and the vegan Mexican bean. It also sells sandwiches, baguettes, jacket potatoes, salads, wraps, paninis, cakes, hot drinks, milkshakes, smoothies, frappes, and serves breakfasts every day until 11am.
Daltons Business described The Original Pasty House as a “a highly profitable food business, trading from two sites in Devon, with exceptional growth and expansion prospects”. It points out that the Plymouth outlet was very successfully “modelled” on the initial Tavistock business and has demonstrably proved the genuine scalability of this “blueprint”.
It said six towns in Devon have been identified as excellent locations for further business development - for which expansion plans have been professionally researched and produced by John Richardson, a consultant to some of the UK’s best known coffee chains and a major player in the fast foods industry.
Daltons Business said there was also an opportunity to introduce a “dark kitchen” to “support significant further delivery service growth across the expanded outlet portfolio”. Also knowns as virtual kitchens, cloud kitchens, ghost kitchens or delivery-only restaurants, dark kitchens are food businesses that serve customers by delivery and pick-up based on phone and online ordering and tend to be a separate entity operating out of an existing restaurant's kitchen.
Daltons Business also described The Original Pasty House as “an obvious candidate” for rolling out via franchising. It said it was already an “extremely well and valuably equipped business”.
In addition to its business success, The Original Pasty House had done much to contribute to the community. The company said: “We feel it is very important for us to put something back into the areas in which we do business. Our customers are incredibly loyal and wherever we can we try to help them with their fund-raising activities by supplying raffle prizes or getting involved in other ways;
The Tavistock branch has raised money for St. Luke Hospice and Heartswell South West, and the company has been involved in many national fund–raising events such as Comic Relief and BBC’s Children in Need. It supported the McMillan Biggest Coffee Morning in the World in both shops.
The Plymouth outlet has also been involved in fund-raising activities organised by University of Plymouth Students Union.
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