THEY sell out at every artisan market and they have scooped two prestigious British Pie Awards in under a year.

So you could say Shane Neild and Lindsay James’ pies – or ‘pie art’ as some of their regulars call it – live up to their company name. To-Pie-For is one of Warrington’s fastest growing foodie success stories which has gone from the Fearnhead couple making pies for friends to a full time job.

So we met Shane and Lindsay to hear how it all came about.

Shane, a former Padgate High School student, used his background in catering and time at Bessie’s in Stockton Heath to perfect recipes.

Then To-Pie-For launched late last year after a few trial markets were a roaring success.

So Shane scaled things up by transforming a unit off Longford Street into his own bakery. It took just a month and a half with no financial support.

He said: “We saved and spent our own money. We were looking at catering options and were just buying bits here and there and putting it into storage.

“So when we did get a unit I already had more or less everything I needed to go in it.”

Lindsay, who attended Sir Thomas Boteler CE High School, added: “We were both working full time for another company and then doing this at the weekends. We were going to our 9-to-5 and then going straight into the bakery cooking all the pies for the weekend.”

Warrington Guardian:

Shane left work in February to devote all his time to the business and Lindsay followed suit in June.

“It was so quick,” said Shane, who used to run Crossroads Sandwich Bar in Marsh House Lane.

“I didn’t think I’d be working on it full time already. It was a bit of a risk but it seems to be paying off.”

You can say that again. The couple do at least eight pop-up markets a month, do high profile events like the upcoming Great British Food Festival at Arley Hall, work with Virgin Trains, cater for events like weddings and birthdays and are considering opening a shop. Then there are those awards we mentioned earlier.

To-Pie-For’s chicken, bacon and cranberry and pork, pistachio and apricot pies both came away with prizes at the British Pie Awards in Melton Mowbray.

Lindsay added: “We didn’t think we’d get anywhere as we were up against multi-million pound businesses.

“We did it more for an experience. But when we got there we got interviewed by the BBC and then the awards were announced and we got a gold and a silver.”

The couple also still thoroughly enjoy the markets where they started out.

Shane, 42, said: “Warrington and Sale are among our busiest markets. We can clear 400 pies in an hour and three quarters.

“You see so many returning customers and that’s when you know you’re doing well.”