Member Article

Yorkshire Pudding with a heart takes on traditional pie market with help from Garbutt + Elliott

An innovative artisan Yorkshire pudding manufacturer plans to fill the UK market after securing major entrepreneurial investment in a deal advised by accountants and business advisers, Garbutt + Elliott.

Family business, The Yorkshire Pudding Pie Company, which has developed and protected its namesake gourmet pie, is using the investment to expand production so it can sell its pies nationally.

Yorkshire Pudding Pie Company founder, Ted Harrison, stumbled on the commercial potential for the pies in 2017 after enjoying Sunday lunch leftover chicken and stuffing in a pie made out of Yorkshire pudding for an evening snack.

Using locally-sourced ingredients Ted Harrison and his family have developed a range of fillings including sausage and red onion marmalade, chicken and chorizo, wagyu steak and onion and Mediterranean vegetable with mozzerrella,

The pies have been sold at food festivals, pop-up pubs, the pop-up Shakespeare Theatre, York; weddings and online and have been received enthusiastically by customers including tourists to York.

After the early success, Ted Harrison contacted Garbutt + Elliott for help with developing the business because of the firm’s food sector expertise. Initial plans include selling Yorkshire Pudding Pies through farm shops and supermarkets.

As well as sourcing investment from a small group of food entrepreneurs, the Garbutt + Elliott team, led by corporate finance partner, Tony Farmer, who has joined the Yorkshire Pudding Pie Company board, advised on the company structure, provided start-up advice and will supply accounting, management information and taxation services as the business grows. The team also included corporate finance director, Stephen Garbett and corporate finance assistant, Adam Copley.

Garbutt + Elliott, which has offices in York and Leeds, has also brought in external marketing, branding and sales strategy support and is also providing strategic business advice.

Ted Harrison says: “Tony Farmer and his corporate finance team and Garbutt + Elliott commercial director, Paul Ellison, have been invaluable. We would not be where we are – on the brink of significant expansion - without their help.

“We believe our product has huge national potential as Yorkshire Pudding Pies can be served in restaurants, sold hot as street food or cold to reheat at home. When in York, we’ve had tourist customers asking us to take them to America, Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong to name a few, so they may even become global.”

One of the food entrepreneur investors, Jim Bloom, a director of Warrendale Farms, near York, which produces a range of foods, including Wagyu beef, says: “We invest only in products that we enjoy and believe in. Yorkshire Pudding Pies are unique and have an amazing taste, especially with a Wagyu beef filling, and we expect them to do very well.”

Tony Farmer says: “Yorkshire Pudding Pies combine brilliant taste and flavour with a modern slant in a sector that needs a fresh approach. Our confidence in the Yorkshire Pudding Pie Company is best demonstrated by the commitment we have made to the business, beyond traditional accounting and business development advice, as we believe they can become market leaders.”

Garbutt + Elliott’s 10-strong corporate finance team, which operates from its the Leeds and York offices, has managed more than 200 deals throughout the UK across a wide range of commercial sectors.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Mike Clarke Communications .