John McGinlay at Carrs Pasties new shop to celebrate opening

The famous Bolton pasty makers opened their fourth shop in the Middlebrook and Retail Leisure Park. 

Although it opened on Tuesday, today was a special day of celebration, and even Lofty the Lion could not keep away.

And free pasties were given away to their first 100 customers.

The new site is the realisation of a the company efforts to  open a store at the popular retail park for the past decade.

Matt Carr, owner and director of Carrs Pasties, made a speech before the ribbon, on the new shop, was cut.

He said: “I just want to say thank you for everyone who has come today.

“When you think of Carrs Pasties, we deliver a feeling of warmth, community and pride.

“Now this store represents 10 years of building that, building something amazing and it's quite an emotional day really because we've been looking at this site for literally 10 years.

“It has finally happened and I don't want to say much more apart from this is absolutely amazing, let's make it official and open the shop.”

Lofty the Lion and John enjoyed  greeting customers and posing for pictures.

One customer said she will have to visit the retail park more often now whilst another added that the new location will be a perfect treat before Bolton Wanderers home games.

This  store also has a food-to-go section, a freezer stocked with frozen products ready to bake at home, and customers will also be able to create sandwiches and salads to suit them.

Breakfast barms will be served from 7am to 11am Monday to Saturday and 9am to 11am on Sunday.

The coffee will be provided by Manchester Based company Second City Coffee which is also available at all other Carrs Pasties stores.

The shop will be open from 7am to 7pm Monday to Saturday and 9am to 5pm on Sundays.

A Click & Collect service will be available in addition to Uber Eats and Just Eat deliveries.

The store, which was previously occupied by EE, has taken 48 days to transform into a bakery shop and was fitted by Frimovel, bakery and shop fitting specialists based in Burnley.

Carrs Pasties is a family-run business. The bakery started in 1938 at its Original Shop on Halliwell Road and now has four shops, a nationwide delivery service and an ecommerce website. It has a core range of six products and a vegan range. The bakery is committed to quality, using the finest ingredients from local suppliers.