Phat Pasty Co - Runners up in National LUNCH Retailer of The Year Awards

The Phat Pasty Co reach the finals of Retailer of the Year awards 2008

The Phat Pasty Co reach the finals of the prestigious Lunch! Retailer of the Year Awards, held at Old Billingsgate, London and awarded at the Lunch! Contemporary food to go show.

At the awards ceremony on the 26th September, The Phat Pasty Co ended up as runners up in the Independent category with a London based business, Amano ending up as winners and M&S winning the Multiple Retailer of the Year award.

The judges commented that they were impressed by the innovative and fun business that the young Phat Pasty Co had developed and loved the approach taken to the delivery of high quality food to the office and industry lunch market in Milton Keynes.
They were also impressed by the professionalism of the business and loved the funky Phat Vans, which have been developed exclusively for the business.

John Clifton, the Event Manager and spokesperson for the judges said ‘We were amazed by the overall quality of entries to the Lunch! 2008 competition. The Phat Pasty Co has a great and innovative approach to a traditional lunchtime market place. Their fantastic Phat Vans set the business aside from the traditional sandwich delivery business and show how the lunch customer can now have fantastic food delivered direct to the workplace’’

The original idea was conceived by Laura Clark who was looking for a business idea that could fit around her lifestyle as a working mum. Having worked in the restaurant and catering industry all her career, she wanted a business of her own to set up and operate. Supported by her husband, Paul, who has been in franchising for the past fifteen years, they developed a ready-made business that can be operated by franchisees working from home or a small lock up unit.

The pilot operation in Milton Keynes now operates 5 Phat Vans in the Milton Keynes areas and has been operating for the past two years to build the model for franchisees to follow. They are now focussed upon franchising the concept nationally and believe that The Phat Pasty Co can become a major player in the lunchtime delivered to work market place.

The Phat Pasty Co franchise offers a unique turnkey package allowing a franchisee to be up and running in just 10 weeks. With a low capital requirement, the ability to lease the unique Phat Vans and a business that can be operated from home they now intend to grow the brand rapidly throughout the UK with a network of independent and multiple Phat Van franchisees.

Said Laura Clark, ‘’We are delighted to win such a prestigious award in just our second year of operating the business. We have a great team and are passionate about delivering the very best lunch to our customers. Everyone who sees the funky Phat Vans loves the business and loves our food. Our challenge now is to replicate this with franchisees across the UK to create a Phat revolution in every town!’’

Michael & Lara Take on Bedford Franchise

New Franchisees For Bedford

The Phat Pasty Co are delighted that Michael and Lara are taking over the Phat Pasty Bedford area as franchisees.

Both Michael and Lara have always wanted their own business and the opportunity to take control of their future. Having seen the Phat Pasty Vans in Miton Keynes, they just knew that this was a business that they would love to have themselves.

Michael has now had all of the 'Phat Training' and is ready to serve customers across Bedford.

Operating from their home in Cranfield, they are ideally located to serve the Bedford business community - with over 30 companies already receiving a daily visit from the Phat Van. They also have lots of plans for using the Phat Van at events throughout the summer and are planning on launching a buffet and office delivery service later in the year.

Laura, the Phat Controller said 'as soon as we met Michael and Lara we just knew that they would make this business a fantastic success in Bedford'. 'They share our passion for standards and quality and are a fun loving couple, who fit right in with the Phat Pasty philosophy'. 'We are looking forward to helping in their success and I'm sure the customers will love them!'

Michael has always been involved with working outdoors and loves working with people. He will take the lead in running the daily Phat Van round, with Lara providing support, together they are Bedfords new 'Phat Controllers'!

The Phat Pasty Co launch The Phat Potato Van

Following the tremendous success of the Phat Pasty Company and their quirky Phat Pasty Vans, the company has now launched into a corporate trial in Milton Keynes,The Phat Potato Co. Using the same great vans and proprietary oven technology they cook freshly baked jacket potatoes to serve with a range of tasty hot and cold fillings.

Phat Pasty franchisees will soon have the opportunity to expand their business with the addition of another great concept, the idea being that they can add a Phat Potato Van to provide further variety and choice for their customers.

The Phat Van visits offices, industrial premises and other places of work on a daily route, providing a range of great products, all freshly made and served to the customer. Both Phat Vans will carry the range of homemade sandwiches, baguettes, salads, soups and smoothies, with the Phat Pasty Van also offering the traditional handmade Cornish pasties and the Phat Potato Van featuring jacket potatoes and a range of hot and cold fillings.

Unique to both concepts are the Phat Vans. These were developed exclusively for the use of Phat Pasty franchisees and incorporate both the fun looks of a camper van (complete with surf boards on the roof) as well as a patented oven system that allows the baking of pasties and jacket potatoes on the back of the van – this is totally unique and provides a major feature to the success of the business.

The Phat Potato Van is also ideal for events, from private parties, village fetes to football tournaments and local activities, all welcoming innovative and fun food offers. The Phat Van has even been booked for weddings! This creates a really versatile business and allows opportunities to maximise the sales and profits of this franchise.

The Phat Potato Van will be trialled in Milton Keynes and will operate alongside the Phat Pasty Vans already serving over 500 customers per day. With jacket potatoes priced from just £2.25 and fillings ranging from coleslaw, beans, cheese, sausages, chilli con carne, prawn cocktail and a curry of the day, there is something for everyone.

Laura Clark, the originator of The Phat Pasty Co said ‘’we are really excited about the Phat Potato Van. This has taken us over 9 months of development and we believe it compliments the Phat Pasty Van perfectly. Our loyal customers can now have the Phat Pasty Van call on one day, with the Phat Potato Van the next. This means that they have even more variety and choice and can find something nutritious and filling each day for their lunch.’’

The Phat Pasty Co are franchising their business model across the UK, with full operations manuals, recipes and intensive training, both in Milton Keynes and at the franchisee’s location. This is a business with a low capital investment and fantastic returns. Run from home, the franchisee can maximise their profits from minimal overheads and reduce many of the headaches of traditional property-based retail businesses. The Phat Potato Company now provides even more opportunities for franchisees and those wishing to develop a multiple Phat business!

For more information, contact Laura Clark (The Phat Controller) on 01908 217257

The Phat Pasty Co

It’s Phat!

‘Phat’ is hip hop slang meaning ‘sexy and cool’, and Laura Clark believes that she has found a lucrative business that is both of these.

Laura Clark was looking for a business idea that could fit around her lifestyle as a working mum. Having worked in the restaurant and catering industry all her career, she wanted a business of her own to set up and operate. Supported by her husband, Paul, who has been in franchising for fifteen years, she has developed a ready-made business that can be operated by franchisees working from home, delivering handmade traditional Cornish pasties, homemade soups and freshly made sandwiches, baguettes and smoothies.

Having spent nine months creating the business, operating systems and recipes, the first Phat Van was launched in Milton Keynes, adding a second Phat Van six months later with a tremendous response.

Laura comments: ‘We set up the business without any prior advertising and within just two weeks we were making sales of double our initial projections. The second Phat Van followed the success of the first and this convinced us that others could follow our recipe for success.’

Two years on an Laura and her husband operate 5 Phat Vans from a small lock up facility in Milton Keynes. With daily rounds serving over 150 businesses each day, they have further expanded a thriving buffet / office lunch business.

The business has now been fully developed as a turnkey franchise package, with a detailed operations manual, product recipes, route planning system and a full, two-week training program, both in Milton Keynes and at the franchisee’s location, ready for their launch.

The Phat Pasty Co is targeting over 50 new franchised Phat Vans in the next three years and is recruiting and selecting suitable franchisees throughout the UK, with prospective franchisees spending a day with them in Milton Keynes getting a first hand experience of what is involved.

At the centre of the concept is the unique and distinctive Phat Van, produced exclusively for The Phat Pasty Co. The Phat Van has been modified to include both an oven to bake off the pasties and a chill unit to display sandwiches, baguettes and drinks as well as salads, soups and smoothies. Finally, it has been transformed into a campervan look-a-like, to give it the distinctive Cornish surfer look and identity.

Laura says: ‘We are absolutely delighted with how the van has turned out. Looks are deceptive: although it is only small, we can cater for over 250 hungry customers and with the ability to cook and display 10 varieties of pasties we can offer a great hot snack that is unique. Our customers love the van and we’re selling out of pasties every day.

‘The customers love the homemade items that we sell and everything has been set up to give a highly professional image to the customer. With low overheads the profitability is fantastic.’
Laura continues: ‘This is a fun and quirky business and has brought a smile to the face of everyone who has seen it. Delivering from 9am–1.30pm each day, the business is designed to operate over a five-day working week, providing a great income from a ready-made business. Enthusiastic franchisees who want to take the van to shows, fetes and sporting events can also operate over the weekends. This really is a great, flexible business. With low start up costs, low overheads and a cash business, there are no customers to chase and it’s cash positive from day one. In the first four months I made over £15,000 in profits!’

The Phat Pasty Co. does not believe in percentage-based fees – with a fixed weekly fee of just £150 the opportunities are endless. And for those wishing to grow the business, multiple Phat Van territories are available.

For any info see the web site http://www.phatpasty.com/