The loneliness became too much to bear for one Leeds man who runs a pie business exclusively online, so he became a bus driver.
Pie maker Richard ‘Rocky’ Arkwright, 62, sold off his shares to his shop Mi’ Mam’s Pies, which became well known after he appeared on Dragons' Den, and began selling his pies directly to people on Facebook instead.
Rocky has been making his pies from his kitchen in Morley, which he loves doing but he’s spoken about how it became a lonely job. The entrepreneur said: “As you can imagine, being at home seven days a week, it was very lonely. Everything is done online, through social media.”
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His mental health has improved since he started working for Transdev, driving routes across Bradford, Leeds Airport, Harrogate and Otley. The pie man, originally from Dewsbury, began driving for them in January.
He said: “You get out and you’re meeting people and you’re out more or less every day. It’s not a difficult job but it gets me out and meeting people.”
Rocky's favourite time of the day is when he gets a 30-minute break in Otley where he can stretch his legs and meet a range of different people he’d never otherwise have come across. The 62-year-old loves speaking to people and got his nickname from doing a Rocky Balboa impression (which sounds quite convincing) as he loves to entertain people.
He said: “I already had a bus driving licence and worked for First buses in Leeds for a while, as my original plan was to buy a bus and convert it into a mobile pie dine – but plans changed, and so I went full time with the pie business from a shop in Morley. When that closed during the pandemic, I went back to home production on a part-time basis.”
Rocky appeared on BBC One’s Dragons' Den in 2019, he asked for a £75,000 investment in return for a 35 per cent stake in the business but all the Dragons backed out because they had doubts Rocky would be able to take his homemade pies to a much bigger and more profitable scale. After his television appearance however, his Facebook pie group grew in numbers.
Rocky’s Pie Group now has more than £4,000 members. He offers a wide range of pies and will “accommodate” requests where possible.
