What is the background story to your business?
Pie Queen started in the same way that all good ideas begin —slightly accidentally and fuelled by a love of really good food.
I’ve always been keen on proper, comforting, no-nonsense cooking, and at some point, I thought… why isn’t anyone making pies like this anymore? So, I just started. Small batches, big flavours, with traceability at the core of it – using our own beef and lamb from our family farm.
One pie turned into ten, ten turned into “have you got any more?”, and before I knew it, I was knee-deep in pastry with a full-blown business on my hands.
It’s grown completely organically – from the farmhouse kitchen chaos to a full bakery setup – and somehow people keep coming back for more, which I’m taking as a good sign.
What sets your business apart from other piemakers?
In short: we don’t cut corners… only pastry. Everything is made properly. Slow-cooked meats that actually fall apart; each pie filled right to the top with filling; sauces that are rich and indulgent (no watery nonsense or fillers here), and fresh, quality ingredients – ideally from our own farm or locally whenever we can. If it’s in a Pie Queen pie, it’s there for a reason.
At any given time, we can tell you about the statistics of the beef pie that you’re eating- which field it was born in, tag numbers, sire and dam, and a whole host of other information – where else can you get a full run down on the ingredients in a pie like that?
Also, we’ve got a bit of personality about us. It’s not just “here’s your pie, goodbye”—there’s humour, there’s chaos, there’s us all probably covered in flour strutting our stuff on social media. We don’t take ourselves too seriously, but we take the pies very seriously. ⸻
Can you describe a day in the life of the Pie Queen?
Imagine a mix between a professional kitchen, a 90’s rave, and a comedy show. Organised chaos—that’s about right. Early starts are non-negotiable. It’s straight into prepping fillings, rolling pastry, baking trays upon trays of pies, and keeping about ten different things from burning at once.
Somewhere in there I’m also answering messages, filming something for social media, taste-testing (strictly for quality control, obviously), and probably forgetting where I put my coffee.
There’s a lot of running around, multitasking, and “that’ll do, let’s crack on” – but I wouldn’t have it any other way. By the end of the day I’m exhausted, covered in flour, and already thinking about the next batch. ⸻
What is the future direction for the Pie Queen?
World domination… but make it pies. The plan is to grow—bigger reach, more customers, more pies flying out the door—but without losing what makes Pie Queen what it is. I never want it to feel mass-produced or soulless. The whole point is that it feels real, a bit personal, and very indulgent.
We’re looking at creating a website so that we can send pies out on a next day service throughout the UK, pushing local delivery further, and just building something that people instantly recognise and trust. Basically, if someone’s craving a proper pie, I want Pie Queen to be the first thing that comes to mind. ⸻
Any recommended favourites!
The best beef pie—an absolute classic, rich, slow-cooked shredded beef and gravy, does exactly what it says on the tin; ham and leek—which I will defend with my life because it is criminally underrated…And anything indulgent and a bit over the top—we don’t do sad pies here. Honestly though, there’s no wrong choice. It just depends how greedy you’re feeling that day. And the top selling sweet treats would have to be our custard slices and Manchester tarts- can’t seem to make enough of them!