Ever been so frustrated that you can’t find a decent pie that you decided to start selling your own? That’s what Martin Dewey did, the creator of East London-based Square Pie, and it seems to have paid off.
His business started from a small stall in Spitalfields Market, which opened in November 2001 and sold a grand total of seven pies on their first day of trading. Now, Square Pie has six London outlets, with a seventh opening in Birmingham later this year, has won several food awards, and supplies to Twickenham Stadium, Glastonbury and Ocado.
Dewey is now hoping to raise £750,000 for Square Pie on crowdfunding platform Crowdcube in order to open further restaurants, and invest in PR and marketing to grow awareness of the brand.
The Square Pie Bond offers an 8% interest rate for an initial investment of £500 or more, over the course of four years. The original investment will be returned when the bond matures.
The company is still run by Dewey and his wife, Lucy. The husband and wife team is backed up by Chief Executive Nabil Subuh, who joined in January 2015 after 25 years in hospitality, and Finance Director Robert Scott, who was formerly CFO at Thomson’s Online.
In 2014, Square Pie’s turnover was £2.6 million, with company sales up 34% this financial year. Whilst profits have been impacted recently due to the initial costs of opening several venues, the financial projections look solid. If this opportunity is something that interests you, head over to Crowdcube.com for further information on how to get involved.
