Pie maker fattening up sales after investment

Jarvis Pickle, which has been helped with its expansion plans by Business Gateway Scottish Borders, has added an office, chill and store rooms, as well as a packaging area to its current bakery and shop in Eyemouth.

With the help of a Scottish Borders Business Fund grant, the firm has also invested in industrial chillers that will help it to rapidly cool its products.

The company, which employs nine staff and scooped two gold awards at the British Pie Awards in March, can make up to 1,000 pies a day. It has seen a 10 per cent monthly increase in wholesale orders since January.

Jamie Brown, who runs the firm with his mother, Susie Upton, forecasts that the business is on target to hit £300,000 turnover in June, smashing last year’s turnover figure six-fold.

He said: “Mintel estimates the pie market is worth £1.2 billion in the UK. Although we don’t want to be the next Greggs, we believe that by maintaining a consistently high standard of product we can quickly scale the business and become an exciting brand.

“Rapid growth will also help us create more local jobs in an area that has been hit hard by the decline in labour needed in both the fishing and farming industries.”

Chris Trotman of Business Gateway said: “Jarvis Pickle’s growing popularity means the firm could create a significant number of jobs in the future and become a household name while also inspiring other local producers with its success story. Susie, a former restauranteur, had previously used our advice so knew that we would be able to offer support to help the new business move forward.”

Brown added: “The first three months of the year are typically quieter months but, from January to March this year we saw production quadrupled compared to 2017. Our flour comes from one farm in East Lothian and we can tell people exactly which field the wheat was grown in.”