West Cornwall Pasty Company facts for kids
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West Cornwall Pasty Company, Albion Place, Leeds
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| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Restaurant |
| Genre | Fast-food |
| Founded | 1998 |
| Founder | Ken Cocking & sons, sisters Victoria and Sarah Barber |
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Area served
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United Kingdom |
| Owner | Samworth Brothers |
West Cornwall Pasty Company, often called West Cornwall Pasty Co., is a popular fast food chain in the United Kingdom. They are famous for making and selling delicious pasties. A pasty is a tasty baked pastry, often filled with meat and vegetables. The company started in 1998 and has been owned by Samworth Brothers since 2017.
Contents
The Story of West Cornwall Pasty Co.
The West Cornwall Pasty Company began in 1998. It was started by Ken Cocking, who was good at creating new businesses. His sons, Arron and Gavin, and Mark Christophers also helped. The very first shop opened in Chippenham, Wiltshire. Friends and family helped pay for the company to start.
Nine years later, in October 2007, the Cocking family sold the company. They sold it to the people who were already managing the business. The sale was for about £40 million. At that time, the company had 55 shops and employed around 400 people.
Growing the Business
By July 2013, the company had grown even more. It employed about 450 staff members. They had 80 locations, with 18 of them in London. The traditional pasty was first made for tin miners in Cornwall. It was a portable meal of meat and potatoes baked in a pastry case. This made it easy for miners to take underground.
Facing Challenges
In April 2014, the company faced some financial trouble. Its owners, a private equity group called Gresham, put the company into "administration." This means they needed help to manage their money problems. They said this happened because the government decided to add a sales tax, called VAT, to pasties.
After this, the company was sold to another private equity group called Endless. This new group had support from people like Danny Mills. He was a famous footballer for Leeds United F.C. and England.
Making Changes
To help the company recover, Endless made some changes. They started selling more types of food and drinks. They also focused on opening shops in busy places. These included railway stations and sports stadiums. The company also sold more of its own brand coffees. This helped each customer spend more money when they visited.
New Ownership and Future
In 2017, Endless sold the business to Samworth Brothers. Samworth Brothers already owned another well-known pasty brand called Ginsters. At this time, West Cornwall Pasty Company had 33 shops and 19 smaller shops inside motorway service stations. The company still says that its pasties are made in west Cornwall.
In March 2020, all the company's shops closed temporarily. This was because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Later that year, Samworth Brothers decided to close the shops permanently. They said the shops were no longer making enough money. However, you can still buy West Cornwall Pasty Company products. They are sold in other stores, like at motorway service stations and railway stations.
