New pie company making a crust

A new pie producer has opened in Darwen, receiving free business support to help them start up.

Owner Dean Howarth worked in construction but decided to go back to his roots and start his own business.

He wanted to use bakery skills and recipe ideas from his travels to start a company with his wife Rebecca that combines traditional pastry with Thai food fillings.

Dean heard about the free business support on offer from Regenerate Pennine Lancashire and attended a four day start-up bootcamp where he received help from an adviser on packaging, equipment, pricing and developing a business plan.

The company is now up and running and Dean has the opportunity to attend further free workshops on employment law, contracts, social media and marketing.

Dean said: “Attending the bootcamp has been a worthwhile experience. It gave me the help I needed to produce a robust business plan that was suitable for a lender to consider me a worthwhile investment and the knowledge of where to go for help when I need it in the future. There are a lot of valuable people with expertise and contacts that I can tap into that will help my business grow.”

Thai Pies recently exhibited with Regenerate at the Fantastic Food Show at Ewood Park in Blackburn. The bootcamp was delivered as part of Regenerate’s Pennine LEAP programme which is funded by the European Regional Growth Fund.