Bristol's Pieminister hungry for success

Just six years ago, the Pieminister shop in Stokes Croft was a simple affair.

You would have found head chef Tristan Hogg baking trays of pies in the open-fronted kitchen behind the counter, while Tristan's business partner and brother-in-law Jonathan Simon was taking the orders.

"We never expected the kind of success that we achieved pretty much immediately," Jonathan says, looking back to the winter of 2003, when the pair embarked on their thick-crust adventure.

"Tristan and I had done everything ourselves – we'd spent the previous six weeks renovating the old printworks into a shop, and we were both exhausted. But on that first day of trading we took about £500, and I remember thinking, actually that's not at all bad."

These days the shop is a slick affair – with trendy decor, seating for diners, and even a swanky coffee machine firing out lattes in the corner.

The business has been transformed since those makeshift early days. The company now has five shops and 15 market stalls spread across the country. Its distinctive, rustic pies are served at scores of pubs and cafes across Bristol. You will even find them on the shelves of Harvey Nichols and Selfridges in London.

Last year, the company had a turnover of almost £4 million, and with Sainsbury's recently joining Waitrose as a stockist of the pies, Jonathan confidently predicts that they will break the £5 million mark in the coming year.

"Before we started Pieminister, I ran a couple of bars in London," says the 37-year-old, from Bishopston. "Tristan was my wife's little brother, so when he was 18 years old, I agreed to give him some experience as a chef in my pubs.

"It turned out he was a talented chef, and for years we talked about different ideas we had for setting up our own business together.

"Then Tristan went travelling in Australia, and he discovered the Aussies' love of pie shops. They're a big thing over there. They're not like the terribly basic pie and mash shops that I'd known in London. The Australians make an art out of pies.

"Tristan came back inspired and put the idea to me. I was just starting a family and I fancied getting out of London, so we sold the pubs and came to Bristol – where Tristan and my wife were brought up.

"We got a great deal on this place, because it needed a lot of work doing to it, but we rolled up our sleeves and did everything ourselves.

"Since we opened the shop door for the first time on that winter's day six years ago, the growth has been amazing.

"But we've had plenty of luck along the way, too," Jonathan adds. "Our factory in Charlton Road, in Westbury-on-Trym, where most of our pies are now made, is a good example.

"It was already a food factory, which had gone into receivership. As a result, we got it at rock-bottom price, and most of the machinery was already there in place."

As the business continues to expand, Jonathan says he's very aware of the importance of maintaining the firm's basic ethos.

"We keep growing but we're going to stick to our principles," he says. "We have always tried to source as much of our food as possible from local farmers, and we will continue to do that.

"I don't believe that success needs to mean the pies change. If anything, I would say that the quality of the pies is getting better all the time.

"Up until 18 months ago, it seemed like we were well-loved by Bristolians but little known elsewhere. But now the secret's out, and people are discovering our pies all over the country. It's certainly a great Bristol success story."

● Pieminister is at 24 Stokes Croft, and has a stall in St Nicholas Market, in Bristol city centre.

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