Jamie of The Spitting Pig Northern Ireland discusses his experience as a franchisee.

Why Did You Choose Spitting Pig?

I am a seasonal regional manager over the festive period in my other line of work, meaning I have a lot of spare time the rest of the year. For the last few years I have been looking for something fulfilling to do in the off-time. I explored many other avenues, but none of them were exciting me.

During lockdown I discovered that I love cooking; especially outdoors. Breakfast, lunch and dinner, rain or shine I was BBQin, grilling or roasting in the garden

When I heard of The Spitting Pig I was immediately intrigued to find out more, it sounded too good to be true!

Having read through the Franchisee prospectus I had a few questions and arranged a call with Stephen. Stephen was great at giving more insight into how the business runs and answered all my questions. He then invited me to the Head Office to see how everything works and meet the different teams. Everyone was so friendly and I could tell they really loved their job. From that day on I was all in. The Spitting Pig has allowed me to do what I love doing, and get paid for it- win, win.

How Did You Find The Training / Onboarding Process?

The onboarding process was very efficient. I was sent all the start-up information in the post to go over in my own time; but had the support of three franchise liaison officers back in head office if I had any questions or concerns. As for the training, it was invaluable. Every part of an event was covered from packing your equipment, setting up, preparing and cooking the food and packing it all back up again.

Chef Mark has a fountain of knowledge and gave us a lot very helpful tips and tricks when it comes to the food preparation and cooking. It was great to see how it all should be done before you have to do it yourself. Rachel has also been brilliant. I obviously wasn’t familiar with how to set up a catering business but with Rachel’s help I was able to fill out all the Health and Safety forms, risk assessments, insurance documents and register the business with the local council. Rachel made sure I wasn’t stressed or overwhelmed, and was ready for my first event. Overall, I would rate the training and onboarding process 10/10, everyone really wants you to succeed.

Did You Have Previous Experience In Catering?

I actually have a little bit of experience in catering, but have never been involved in the food preparation, only in service and event management. I worked for an event catering company for serval summers throughout my time at university and for a year once I left university. We did private and cooperate events and a lot of film and TV location catering, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Perhaps I alway knew this was the line of work for me.

What’s Your Favorite Thing So Far? Particular Menu / Particular Experience?

My favourite thing so far has to be the first week of training. It was fantastic to see how all the food is prepared and cooked, and how much the staff enjoyed their job- it really got me excited. As I mentioned in a previous question, I found it invaluable and am looking forward to further training events. However, the best bit about the training is getting to eat all the delicious meats! My favourite menu has to be the Southern Slow Roast. The slow roast beef brisket, BBq ribs and Cajun chicken are just spectacular. A great range of flavours and the clients love it as much as me!

Would You Give Any Advice To Anyone Thinking About Starting A Spitting Pig Franchise?

If you are going to do it, do it right. Make sure you have all the right equipment and a good space for prep, this will make the work so much more enjoyable.