'Pork pie shop's expansion will attract more shoppers and tourists to Melton'

We reported back in September that the Dickinson and Morris Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe had applied for planning permission to increase the sales area of the Nottingham Road store, install information boards on the heritage of Melton pork pies and set up a new sit-down area where customers can eat food they buy there.

Approval has now been given by council planners and English Heritage to carry out the work, which will see the shop front expand into the adjoining Mrs King’s premises and the sit-down area created in a vacant next-door unit in The Bell Centre shopping mall.

Work will not start until early in the new year with the company currently working through by far its busiest time of the year in the run-up to Christmas.

Manager Richard Griffiths told the Melton Times: “We are open for business as usual this side of Christmas.

“The work being carried out is an investment in the town and in the history of the pork pie.

“People want different things now, as well as our traditional lines, compared to 172 years ago when we first started trading.

“We are making sure we update our offer to new customers as well as maintaining our heritage for existing customers.”

While work is going on to expand the front part of the shop, customers will still be able to buy products in a pop-up shop in the adjoining unit in The Bell Centre.

It is hoped work at the front will be finished by April but the company has no exact time frame because of the need to work within listed building guidelines.

The sit-down area at the rear could be ready by summer if everything goes to plan.

Richard said: “The work at the front of the shop will take place in January and February when sales slow.

“This will have the least impact on the business and on our customers.”

Explaining more about the work, he said: “As you walk in currently, there will be a walkway to the left into the food-to-go area and a walkway to the right to go to the old production area.

“That will be a point of payment and an area we can use in the evenings when the shop is shut for pie-making demonstrations.”

It is a hectic time for Richard and the shop’s 30-strong full and part time staff members.

Bakers are working round the clock to produce pork pies for the festive season.

“It’s a steady trade all through the year but, come Christmas, when people traditionally celebrate with a pork pie, it spikes massively," he added.

“We sell tens of thousands of pork pies in the run-up to Christmas.

“It’s a massive team effort from the bakers, the shop staff and the admin team to deliver what we have to do at Christmas.”