Pasty shop celebrates first anniversary in Chester

Sep 17 2009 by Gil Lightfoot, Chester Chronicle

CHESTER will be beseiged by pirates tomorrow (Friday) as the West Cornwall Pasty shop in Northgate Street celebrates its first anniversary.

The three Cornish pirates, Mary and Henry Killigrew and Duggery the Bosun Skull, will be scouring the city centre, singing sea shanties and searching for new pirate recruits to swear in and join the ‘rite of parlay’ along the way.

Brandishing treasure maps, the swashbuckling trio will be asking passers-by for help to find their pirate booty, in the form of Cornish pasties,

In the past 12 months Chester has munched its way through more than 60,000 of the firm’s pasties, with the firm favourite being the traditional steak pasty, filled with steak, potato, turnip and onion.

Chief executive Richard Nieto, who was born and bred in Chester, said: “Our pasties travel a long journey from Cornwall, where they are handmade, up to Chester where they are freshly baked on the premises daily, so it’s great to see how popular they are here.

“Chester is such a thriving city and it was an important location for us to settle in as it has represented the start of our expansion plans into the north. We have since followed with a kiosk in the heart of Liverpool.”

Three years ago Mr Nieto led a management buy-out of the 62-strong chain, which employs more than 500 people and sells 7m pasties a year in the UK.

This season the company is sponsoring Chester Rugby Union Football Club.