Ready meal king Charlie Bigham: ‘I haven’t seen a single benefit from Brexit yet’ | Food & drink industry

There was a time when Charlie Bigham would regularly get calls from customers demanding to know whether he really existed or was just a made-up front for his fresh ready meals company.

Not only is Bigham real – it’s his face on the pack – he is still the majority owner and a full-time worker at the business he began, appropriately enough, at his kitchen table in 1996.

And he looks just like he appears on his fish pie packaging and in the company’s animated TV ads: floppy silver hair, casual clothing, a friendly smile and a bluff manner.

He is real enough to be organising cups of tea for everyone and proudly showing off the London outpost of his empire, where chefs are busily rustling up cement-mixer-size vats of spiced chicken, salmon and bechamel sauce.

At 56, Bigham has no plans to sell up or “cede control”, noting that if you do that, and make agreements with an initial buyer, any future owners may not adhere to your wishes. He cites the case of the Body Shop, whose founders, Anita and Gordon Roddick, sold out to French cosmetics multinational L’Oréal in 2006. The company has passed through two owners since then, and went into administration this month with the loss of hundreds of jobs.

Some say the problems the Body Shop had show that it’s not possible to survive as an ethical business in a cost of living crisis. This is “complete nonsense”, according to Bigham. “[Behaving ethically] is absolutely core to who we are, what we do, where we’ve come from and where we’re headed. I absolutely believe that businesses are a force for good in society. I come across loads of businesses that are just quietly getting on and doing the right thing.”

His company is certified as a B Corp, which means it has met certain ethical and environmental standards.

For Bigham’s, these include shares for employees, investing in solar panels as part of a plan to eventually meet half its energy needs through renewables, heading towards zero food waste and using wood or ceramic containers instead of plastic.

The brand offers a wide choice of vegetarian dishes – although nothing vegan – and while it doesn’t promise that its chicken is all free-range or its meat all from UK farmers, it does pledge to source ingredients to high ethical standards, and to pay its staff more than the minimum wage.

Bigham worked as a management consultant after university and then ditched that to go travelling in India. He says he was inspired to start a food business by his disappointment with the ready meals available at the time, whose ingredients lists “read like a chemistry lesson”. And they almost always required a microwave oven, a cooking device he was and still is against.

Bigham says he was always entrepreneurial: even as a child, he would take photos of school plays to sell to other pupils. “I just wasn’t very good at working for someone else. I didn’t like being told what to do. I’m quite opinionated.”

Using “very little” savings, he began by making and selling fresh ready meals to London delis but was advised that selling just to that market would be tough. So, he says, he cold-called Waitrose, managed to organise a meeting and within a few months of starting the business had signed the posh supermarket as his first major stockist.

Bigham’s posted sales of almost £133m in the year to August 2023, and now sells to most of the UK’s major supermarkets. Profits rose almost 22% to £5.6m last year, allowing it to pay a £2m dividend, most of which went to its founder. In 2002, it bought ByRuby, a frozen ready meals brand, and expects sales to rise to £140m this year. Bigham’s now employs more than 640 people, at sites in Dulcote, Somerset, and north-west London.

Bigham says his main goal now is to improve the quality of his food. His ready meals were never cheap and have gone up in price by more than 20% in the past two years, with the bestselling fish pie for two now costing £9.95.

Bigham is unapologetic: the costs of ingredients, staff and energy have all increased, he says, and he won’t cut corners to save pennies.

“It’s a big shock to us all as consumers to get used to this new world. I think some people are hoping it’s going to flip back to the old world. It’s not, because these are structural changes.”

He says erratic weather is only likely to add to problems in the short term, with pressure on root crops such as potatoes and carrots. “We had a very wet winter across Europe, and that will find its way through.”

On Brexit, he says leaving the EU has been “very harmful to British business”, adding: “I haven’t seen a single benefit from it yet.”

He believes much of the impact has been hidden by the effects of Covid, and after that the inflation linked to the war in Ukraine, but says it has created more friction for importing goods, and made it harder to recruit.

Despite all the problems, he remains enthusiastic. “I love working in the business. I’m proud of what we do. I think we’re just in the foothills of potential. So there’s plenty to keep me busy and engaged.”

CV

Age 56
Family “Lovely wife and four great children (aged 20 to 26).”
Education Edinburgh University (English literature).
Pay “Enough!”
Last holiday India.
Best advice he’s been given “Employ brilliant people – even if you can’t afford them.”
Biggest career mistake “Not sure if I qualify as having a career – I’ve been doing the job I’m doing [founder] for 28 years.”
Phrase he overuses “A little bit better – every year, every month, every week, every day”; and “How can we, rather than why can’t we”.
How he relaxes “Easily.”