A WHITCHURCH chef set to launch a new pie business says his entire career has been building to setting up his own venture.

David Martin, 35, has set up Martins Pies with wife Emma, 37, in Bridgewater Street, and will be opening on Saturday, November 4.

David, who is an award-winning chef for his pies, says that the decision to open in the town is the culmination of all the work he has put in so far.

“I think that my whole career has led to this point,” he said.

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“All the learning and work I’ve done throughout that has come to this and while I’ve got people around me, to get everything to this point, I’ve done that on my own.

“I’ve got the inspiration to build the shop and I’ve got all the skills I need, so now feels like the right time and the right area.

“We’ve thrown more money at it than anticipated but at the end of the day it’s for a great product.”

He added: “I’ve been a chef for all of my career, fine dining but I got out of that and went into food manufacturing such as ready meals, at a place in Wrexham.

Whitchurch Herald: “I did three or four years then went to a pastry factory and transferred my skills from that.

“But then Covid happened – we started doing meals on wheels, ready meals etc and people really enjoyed it so we’ve been doing it on and off ever since.

“It’s been like a hobby for me – I’ve got all the skills and learned load along the way but I said to Emma ‘I’m going to get a pie shop’.

“After honeymoon, we got back into Martins but changed our concept so instead of doing fresh and deliveries, which was time-consuming, I decided to freeze everything as a lot of customers bought more than they needed and froze them anyway.

“Out of the blue this came up.

“It needed a lot of work but looking out of the window felt right as I could see that it’s a busy, vibrant place with food coming to Whitchurch.”

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The business, which will have a deli feel as well as frozen food products, will open on November 4 at around 1pm.

And he promises his Good Food Award three-star pies, won this year, will be on offer.

He added: “Last June we won three stars for our pie which was unheard of for a first entry and we were invited down to London for the big event.

“We didn’t get called up until the last nomination and out of 14,500 products we made it to the last 10 which says to me we have a great product.”