Melton pie maker is enjoying a slice of new success

Family-run Brockleby’s Pies, of Melton Road, has just won the Best Activity award from the Leicestershire Promotions and Hospitality Awards for its popular Ultimate Pie Making Workshops for the public.

Staged for corporate team-building gatherings, school events and individual experiences, the new sessions have rapidly become a vital part of the business.

While Brockleby’s, which can turn out about 10,000 pies a week, has always run some public participation events, last year the company decided to heighten the experience.

Experience manager Clare O’Donnell said: “It is the first time we have won this award and is a real feather in our cap.

“The Ultimate Pie Making was an initiative we started last year and we have been heavily booked up since.

“We realised from our earlier pie making experiences that there was interest out there and we could do some more.”

She added: “We were surprised how well it has gone across all age groups.

“For a nation that has lost its way when comes to cookery, the teaching element of it is something that is in huge demand and we have added in extra dates.”

She said: “It started out as a ‘shall we just give a it a go’ type of idea and now it is very much an integral part of the business.

“It really is changing the face of the business.”

Brockleby’s Pies has come a long way since it was created by the Jalland family in 2003.

Traditionally the business, which at peak season has 45 staff, has sold its huge variety of pies at open air events across the country.

Its growing online sales, which rose by 25 per cent over Christmas, and the success of its experience sessions, means the business is no longer dependent on the weather.

Clare said: “To have an element of the business that is not weather dependent just makes it far more secure.”