Ex-groundsman has perfect pitch for career change
IT HAS been part of the furniture of Swansea city centre for almost a quarter of a century.
For the last 24 years, come rain or shine, Chris Parsons can be seen walking along, setting up his stall and getting ready to serve the people.
Once things warm up, shoppers then experience the smell of jacket potatoes coming from a small marquee in Oxford Street, with many workers at banks, shops and businesses starting to form long queues each lunchtime to buy one.
They then return to their places of work with the most delicious looking lunches and the next day, that queue is no doubt even longer with people eager to try what their colleague ate in front of them the day before.
Spicy Spuds can be found in Swansea’s main shopping thoroughfare from Monday to Friday between 10am and 2pm, serving up big jacket potatoes with fillings of cheese, beans, chicken curry or tuna for just £4.
The man behind it, Chris, began running the business in unlikely circumstances, having been groundsman for Swansea City Football Club at their former ground, Vetch Field.
One of his friends told him of the opportunity, and he decided to take over, despite having no previous experience. Over the years, he has made it a huge success, establishing a steady stream of loyal customers.
Chris, aged 55, from Neath, said: “I had always been a groundsman, so this was a completely different job for me at the time. I really enjoy it, it’s not a job as such when you enjoy it. When you’re talking to people, the day goes quickly.
“You more or less get the same faces, people from banks, office workers. You get all the characters, people treat me like a friend, I get to hear all of their problems!”
He said social media had indirectly given his business a boost in terms of attracting the next generation to his stall, and he also lifted the lid on the favourite fillings.
“We’ve had a lot of youngsters recently too. There’s a jacket potato man in Tamworth who is doing well on Tiktok and that has helped my business too as it has raised the profile with younger people.
“The chicken curry jacket potatoes always do really well, as do the beans and cheese.”
If people wanted something to keep them going from lunch till dinner, then jacket potatoes filled the spot, he added, making them good value for money, especially at a time of a cost-of-living crisis.
He added: “You can never tell how busy it is going to be from one day to the next, it is such a strange thing. You can have some days where there are people queuing, and other days where it is deadly quiet, there’s no pattern to it - but that’s the same everywhere at the moment.
“It is busy more often than not, and I think the secret to it is it’s value for money. You could go to the bakery and buy a pasty for £2 and it doesn’t fill you. At least here, it fills you until you have tea, and there’s so many different choices on offer, you can have something different every day. There’s plenty of variety.”
After I leave Chris, he’ll carry on making people smile for a little while longer before packing everything up, and heading home. But sure as eggs is eggs – or jacket potatoes is jacket potatoes – he’ll be back the next day, next week, next month and hopefully next year and many to follow. After all – what would Swansea do without him?