Cornish moguls to build pasty empire

A GROUP of friends who founded the West Cornwall Pasty Co with £40,000 are on the verge of turning their investment into a multi-million pound fortune.

They have appointed accountancy firm KPMG to advise on the next phase of the firm's growth, which is expected to create a £50m empire.

Several options will be considered, including overseas expansion through a joint venture, selling a stake to a private equity company, or making acquisitions.

Director Mark Christophers said: 'We see huge growth potential and we wanted to see how we could speed it up. It is about where we want to take the business.'

The company was set up in 1998 from the ashes of another pasty firm founded by entrepreneur Ken Cocking and his sons Gavin and Arron. The family spent 18 months sleeping in the basements of their five shops to get them running, but money problems forced the closure of four.

Unperturbed, the sons approached childhood friend Mark Christophers, who was working in the City, about investing in a new venture based on the same idea. Christophers pledged £30,000 while Gavin and Arron's girlfriends, sisters Sarah and Victoria Barber, put in £10,000.

Today, the company, which sells 6m pasties a year, operates more than 30 profitable branches, most at train stations. Seven more will open this year.