Weekends only as pie shop feels cost of living bite
AFAMILY owned and run bakery is being forced to shut up shop Monday to Friday and only open at weekends due to the cost of living crisis.
Bacup Pie, based on Bacup Market, said they had made the ‘hardest decision’ ‘with a heavy heart’ to close during the week after noticing a drop in takings, but that they would still open at weekends.
Owner John-Paul Chesworth, 36, told the Free Press: “I noticed a drop off in February and January, but January and February are always difficult for everybody. I noticed that things weren’t as busy as they were in comparison to last year, and I’ve just noticed the steady decrease as the year’s gone on.
“We’ve not shut completely - we’re still going to open up at weekends but during the week, Monday to Friday, it’s not even worth turning the oven on or doing anything; we’re just haemorrhaging money.”
Founded in 2019, and based at Bacup Market from just over a year ago, the family owned business only has a few members
of staff. He added: “As a business, we can’t sustain these guys any more, we can’t sustain me as the owner and proprietor and baker; I worked 102 hours last week to not take a wage.
“I’ve just kept my eye on it, with everything and the price of energy, the price of stock, the price of eggs, milk’s gone up, chicken’s gone up, flour has gone through the roof - I’ve been in the catering trade for 20 odd years and I’ve
never known flour be as expensive, and oil is just ridiculous at a moment, so it’s not a sustainable thing.”
The dad, a chef of 20 years’ standing who did his apprenticeship in a local bakery, added: “I’ve absolutely put blood, sweat and tears into this.
“My entire inheritance from my late mother and my family savings, and everything has gone into this business. It’s not forever but for the time being
with cost of living, energy prices and lack of footfall on markets, it is what it is.
“We do a lot for the community and will continue to when we can; events and pop ups at weekends are still going to happen but Monday to Friday we don’t make a penny.”
He added on social media: “I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the staff, past and present, the customers and the fellow traders. Cost of everything in these crazy times has made the situation nearly impossible...But fear not, this isn’t the end; we will still be doing pop ups and opening when we can, helping out on Bacup Market and other events. Please keep posted to see where we will be.”
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy was contacted for comment.
To find out more about Bacup Pie’s weekend events, visit the @BacupPie2019 Facebook page.