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Charlie Bigham's
Founded	1996; 29 years ago
Founder	Charlie Bigham
Area served	United Kingdom
Key people	Patrick Cairns (CEO); Charlie Bigham;

Charlie Bigham's is a British brand of fresh ready meals founded by Charlie Bigham.

History

Charlie Bigham, a former management consultant from London, started the business in 1996. The delicatessens of Selfridges and Harvey Nichols, and later Waitrose stocked the meals.^[1]

In 2012, Allan Leighton joined the board of directors.^[2]

In 2013, Bigham's created "Swish Pie", the world's most expensive ready meal at £314.16, as a publicity stunt. The pie contained lobster, turbot, scallops, smoked salmon and oysters, poached in Dom Pérignon champagne, topped with truffles and a gold leaf crumb, and a side of Beluga caviar.^[3]^[4]

In 2016, Bigham's bought Dulcote Quarry, a disused quarry in Somerset, to build a new factory after outgrowing its premises in London.^[5] The first phase of the food production campus was designed by Feilden Fowles and completed in 2017.^[6]^[7]

In 2020, Bigham's became a certified B Corporation.^[8]

By August 2020, annual sales had reached £80 million.^[9]

In 2021, Bigham's launched a £3 million advertising campaign, including radio and podcast adverts voiced by Richard Osman.^[10]

Products

The product range includes lasagne, cottage pie, salmon en croûte, steak and ale pie, and beef bourguignon and dauphinoise potatoes. They are intended to be cooked in an oven, rather than a microwave.^[11] The packaging, designed by Perry Haydn Taylor's big fish design agency,^[12] uses wooden or ceramic containers instead of plastic, although foil trays were temporarily used during a supply shortage in 2012.^[13]

Reception

The Sunday Times restaurant critic Marina O'Loughlin wrote: "I've never been drawn to this brand – it seemed like a mix of low-rent ready meal and aspirational boujie, invented by someone a bit posh and, um, chinless," but concluded that the lasagne was "delicious".^[14]^[9]

Charlie Bigham

Charlie Bigham studied English Literature at the University of Edinburgh, before working as a management consultant at Andersen Consulting and ABL.^[1] He also owns the Derreen Estate in County Kerry, Ireland.^[15]

In 2013, it was reported that Bigham had insured his senses of sight, smell, taste and touch for £12 million. Under the terms of the insurance policy, he was required to avoid dangers such as tasting hot chillies, piercing his tongue or looking directly at bright light.^[16]^[17]