Our Story...

If you'd told me a few years ago that I'd be running a pizza trailer full-time, I'd have laughed.

This all started because I couldn't find a decent takeaway pizza nearby.

I've worked in the hospitality industry since before leaving school, and over the years I've been fortunate enough to gain experience across a variety of roles. More recently, I spent several years working in Italian restaurants, where I developed a real passion for authentic pizza.

During the Covid lockdowns, I ran the pizza takeaway at the restaurant where I was working, regularly serving more than 230 pizzas in a single evening. That experience taught me how to make great pizza consistently, work under pressure, and maintain quality no matter how busy the night became.

When I wanted to recreate that same quality at home, I bought a Gozney Roccbox oven. What was meant to be a single oven in the garden quickly became two, and before long I was wondering if other people might enjoy my pizzas too. In fact, the name Roccafire Pizza was inspired by that very first Roccbox oven. It seemed like the perfect way to acknowledge where the journey began.

My first plan was to trade on Skipton Market on my day off from work, but that didn't work out. Instead, I catered for a birthday party and then got a call from Neil at The King's Arms in Sutton, asking if I'd do a pop-up outside the pub.

I wasn't prepared for what happened next. The queue stretched around the corner. I was taking orders, making pizzas, taking payments and building pizza boxes, all on my own. It was exhausting, but it proved one thing. People genuinely wanted the product we were making.

Looking back now, I'd tell myself to have taken the leap much sooner. I spent years wondering if I should do it when, in reality, I should have just given it a go.

Today, I'm fortunate enough to be running Roccafire Pizza full-time. I don't really have an end goal anymore because, in many ways, I'm already living it. I get to work for myself, spend more time with my family, and make food that people genuinely enjoy. Hearing customers tell me it's the best pizza they've ever had, including Italians telling me it's the best pizza they've eaten outside Italy, never gets old.

Running a pizza business isn't easy. Long before the first pizza goes into the oven, there are hours of preparation behind the scenes. Dough is a living thing, and a successful service starts days before an event. A hot day, a cold day and changes in humidity all affect how the dough behaves. Even now, I still get nervous before every event because I care deeply about getting it right. That attention to detail is what allows me to serve every pizza with confidence.

None of this would have happened without my family.

My wife, Stace, has believed in this from the very beginning. What started as "let's buy an oven for the garden" somehow became a trailer, equipment taking over part of our home, and countless evenings and weekends dedicated to building a business. Through it all, she's been my biggest supporter. While I'm out serving pizzas, she's at home looking after our children, making it possible for me to do what I love. Customers might not see her at every event, but she's one of the most important parts of Roccafire Pizza.

Our daughter, Izzy, has become a familiar face to many of our regular customers. She loves handing out leaflets, chatting to people and, when she's allowed, delivering pizzas. She would happily spend all day in the trailer if she could. Our son, Benji, is a little younger but already a huge pizza fan, although he insists on eating his slices upside down.

There's one more person who's with me at every event, even though he isn't physically there.

The wooden stands that my ovens sit on were among the last things my dad made for me before he passed away. He was a self-employed joiner and the person I always turned to whenever I needed to know how to build or fix something. The skills he taught me helped me build this trailer, and the example he set by working for himself, providing for his family and taking pride in his work inspired me to do the same. Every time I set those oven stands up, it feels like a little part of him is still there with me.

For me, this has never just been about pizza. It's about building something I'm proud of, creating memorable experiences for people, and showing my children that sometimes it's worth taking a chance on an idea.