The West Cornwall Pasty Company

The West Cornwall Pasty Company (styled as West Cornwall Pasty Co.) is a fast food chain in the United Kingdom specialising in making and selling pasties. The company's headquarters are in Long Crendon, Buckinghamshire, while its products are manufactured in Penryn, Cornwall.

History

The West Cornish Pasty Company was launched in 1998 by Ken Cocking, a serial entrepreneur, along with his sons, Arron and Gavin, and Mark Christophers.^[1] The first store was opened in Chippenham, Wiltshire, and the firm was initially financed by family and friends.^[2] After nine years, Cockings sold the company to its management for £40 million in 2007.^[3] At the time, the company had 400 staff in 55 establishments of various types.^[3] By 2013 it was reported to employ around 450 staff in eighty locations, including eighteen in London.^[4] The pasty was originally a portable meal of meat and potatoes in a pastry case, made for tin miners in Cornwall to take underground. The modern range has expanded to include lamb and minted peas, chicken, and spicy chorizo.^[2]

In 2014, the private equity house Gresham, the owners of the company, put it into administration, blaming its failure on the government's decision to charge VAT on pasties. The company was subsequently sold to another private equity fund called Endless, backed by Danny Mills, former Leeds United F.C. and England footballer, and others. Since then the losses have been reduced by expanding the company's range and by taking a more targeted approach, concentrating on outlets such as railway stations and sports venues. The firm is also boosting the range of own-brand coffees that it sells, to try to get each customer to spend more in each transaction. The firm still bakes all its pasties in western Cornwall and has more than forty outlets across Britain.^[5]

References

External links

• Official website