A former aircraft engineer and hairdresser have opened a new Bridport restaurant a year after starting a food delivery business out of a van.
Husband and wife Ian and Donna Winters and son Sam Sach have opened their new restaurant and takeaway Rafters in St Michael's Business Park in Bridport.
The family started with a burger van just 12 months ago, known as Mega Bites, and has seen demand soar for their burgers, wraps and breakfasts.
Rafters opened its doors for the first time on Tuesday morning (October 25).
Ian said: “We brought a food van a year ago and started selling burgers and wraps on Gore Cross in Bridport.
“We slowly built up to doing food deliveries in the area from Tuesday to Saturday.
“We were getting very busy so opening a restaurant was the next step.
“We purchased a unit on St Michael’s business park and have converted it into a restaurant from where we will still offer deliveries and takeaways.
“We can now run things from here rather than out of a van."
“The business is going from strength to strength.
“Two weeks ago we had to shut the system down on Saturday night because we had so many tickets, we stopped taking orders an hour early at 8.30pm and we were still delivering until 9.30pm."
The takeaway has its own app which customers can use to order food through.
The menu includes burgers, hot dogs and wraps with vegetarian and vegan options available
Ian and his wife took a gamble when they decided to make the drastic career change, but their decision has paid off with the opening of the new restaurant.
Ian added: “I am new to the whole thing, we only started a year ago.
“My son has been cooking in fish and chip shops since before he left school and my wife and I decided to take a leap of faith with this business.
“I was an aircraft engineer and my wife was a hairdresser so it was a big step for us to take.
“We hope the business will keep getting bigger and bigger, we have had lots of people tell us we do the ‘best chicken burgers in town’ or that we are the ‘best takeaway in town’ so the support from local people has been amazing.”
Rafters on St Michael's Business Park is open on Monday from 9am - 2pm, Tuesday - Friday 9am-2pm and then 5pm - 9pm, Saturday 5pm-9pm and then closed on Sunday.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here