Marlborough’s cook shop enterprise set for home delivery expansion as two friends buy the franchise

As business confidence grows, two men have taken a bite out of the food industry and bought the franchise of Marlborough’s ‘Cook’ shop in the High Street with plans to expand the enterprise.

They are set to introduce a home delivery service that will extend as far as Devizes plus their own private enterprise version of meals on wheels for local pensioners at a cost of around £3 a day.

It all began when Tim Jephson and Donal Mullins became friends because their daughters went to the same school in Ramsbury – and they cooked up a future together as ‘Cook’ shop co-owners at a summer barbecue in Tim’s garden.

They decided they liked the ‘Cook’ shop ethos – there are now 70 shops across the country – because it is basically a family-based business that began in Sittingbourne, Kent, in 1997, which has proved itself.

“It has a good business pedigree that is a family based creation, not some venture-capitalist investment, and that was something that appealed to us,” Tim told Marlborough News Online.  “And we have verified that it is definitely not some mass-produced product out of a tin.

“It produces brilliant food, just like people make in their own kitchens, each of their chef-created dishes signed with the individual chef’s name.  We’ve been to Sittingbourne and seen it in action.”

And Donal added:  “We were both customers of the shop here in Marlborough and love its freezer-packed food.  It’s a great product, a great brand that all the customers like.  So we decided it was somewhere we could link up, make the business grow and take it forward.”

Cook –  The remarkable food for your freezer – produces a vast range of dishes in single, double and larger portions, mixing classic European meals and desserts with Asian and Indian recipes, as well as gluten free and OMG dishes of less than 400 calories for slimmers.

Tim Jephson’s background as a director of Marlborough’s Kennet Pharmacy, launched by his late father 24 years ago and itself still a family business, was another attraction together with the launch last year of Marlborough’s Mobility store.

“My belief is in keeping people independent for as long as they can,” explained Tim.  “We can do that with our meals on wheels deals where we can deliver a proper, home cooked meal every day of the week, nutrition being so important keeping people well and independent.

“There’s a meal selection box and people can buy the services by the week, swopping in and out of the menu, and it works out about £3 or £3.30 a day.

“You can do it online too but we are going to try to simplify it with order sheets people can use if they don’t have access online.”

For 48-year-old Donal the ‘Cook’ shop is a full-time management task following a career which has included being a global procurement manager for the car giant Ford, home and abroad, and working for an educational technology company.

He is setting up the home delivery service whereby customers can opt for timed delivery slots and, where possible, will be able to receive their orders on a same day basis.  That comes on the back of his experience during a successful Christmas period well ahead of supermarket returns.

“We’re now coming out of the longest peace-time recession we’ve ever had,” he said.  “Food has been pretty resilient, always at the high end as people make sure they look after themselves at difficult times.

“Now we have the chance to take that forward into the New Year.”