The Accidental Entrepreneur

With The Apprentice back on our screens and National Pie Day just behind us, it’s the perfect time to talk about what real entrepreneurship looks like – and it’s probably not what Lord Sugar would have you believe.

While candidates battle it out in boardrooms for investment, there’s a quieter revolution happening across the Northwest’s artisan markets. It’s where passion meets profit, where “posh pastry” trumps corporate catering, and where a speedboat mentality beats a battleship every time.

Just ask Simon Warren of The Cheshire Bakehouse, who swapped the corporate kitchen for a gazebo and a dream.

The Accidental Entrepreneur

Simon’s business didn’t start with a five-year plan or a PowerPoint presentation. It started with watching people’s faces light up at corporate sales presentations when they tasted his savoury pastry rolls.

“The reaction I was getting was really, really good from potential clients,” Simon recalls. “And I thought, you know what? I think there’s a little bit of mileage in this.”

That instinct – not a spreadsheet, not market research, just genuine customer reaction – became the foundation of a thriving business. It’s the kind of organic growth The Apprentice candidates rarely get to experience in their frantic, task-driven challenges.

Pie Day, Pastry Day, Every Day

National Pie Day might celebrate our love of pastry-wrapped fillings, but Simon’s taken the concept to a whole new level. His customers have dubbed them “posh sausage rolls,” and he’s absolutely fine with that.

What makes them special? A unique blend of bacon, pork mince, and sausage meat creates a texture that’s “a whole different type” from your standard offering. But it’s the flavours that really set them apart.

His bestseller – a sticky Chinese Char Siu Hoisin creation – has been flying off the stall for four and a half years. “I’m bored of it, I’m not going to lie,” Simon admits with a grin. “But it sells and sells and sells.”

And for Burns Night at the end of January?

Haggis, Neeps and Tatties in a roll. “A lot of people sort of turn off when they hear it’s haggis, and then it’s like a challenge,” he says.

The secret is encouraging customers to warm them through at home: “It absolutely goes to a different level.”

The Artisan Market Advantage

Here’s what Simon understands that many business school graduates don’t: sometimes staying small is the smartest move.

“We’re still very small now, but I like it like that,” he explains. “We’re like a speedboat. We can just stop on a dime.”

That agility means he can create new flavours quickly, respond to customer feedback instantly, and pivot without corporate approval or supply chain nightmares.

From Road Hall in Rode Heath to Trickle Market in Macclesfield (which he describes as “absolutely fantastic – like a firework display”), the artisan market scene offers something the boardroom never can: direct connection with your customers.

The Real Apprenticeship

What started as a part-time venture in 2018 – just three months before lockdown threatened to derail everything – has become a business where everything sells out.

Not through aggressive sales tactics or undercutting competitors, but through quality, consistency, and genuine passion.

Simon’s prices have barely changed in two years. His posh sausage rolls go for £4, or three for £11.

It’s not about maximising every penny – it’s about building loyal customers who come back week after week.

His wife jokes that he “talks too much” at the markets. But that’s the point. Those conversations, that connection, that immediate feedback loop – that’s the real education in running a business.

While The Apprentice contestants fight over who can shift the most units in a day, Simon’s quietly built something sustainable. No boardroom theatrics required.

The Cheshire Bakehouse can be found at artisan markets across the Northwest, including Road Hall (Rode Heath), Chester, Marple, Lark Lane (Liverpool), and Trickle Market (Macclesfield).

The Apprentice is back on BBC 1 and the BBC Iplayer.