
Henry Walker was a successful pork butcher who moved from Mansfield to Leicester in the 1880s to take over an established business in High Street. The first Walker's production line was in the empty upper storey of Walker's Oxford Street factory in Leicester. In the early days the potatoes were sliced up by hand and cooked in an ordinary fish and chip fryer. In 1971 the Walker's crisps business was sold to Standard Brands, an American firm, who sold on the company to Frito-Lay. Walker's crisps currently makes 10 million bags of crisps per day at two factories in Beaumont Leys, and is the UK's largest grocery brand.
Meanwhile the sausage and pie business was bought out by Samworth Brothers in 1986. Production outgrew the Cobden Street site and sausages and pork pies are now manufactured at a meat processing factory and bakery in Beaumont Leys, coincidentally situated near the separately owned crisp factories. Sold under the Walker's name and under UK retailers own brands such as Tesco's Finest, over three million hot and cold pies are made each week. Henry Walker's butcher shop at 4-6 Cheapside is still in business, selling Walker's sausages and pork pies, and is currently trading under the ownership of Scottish company Fife Fine Foods which bought up the Walker's butchers stores chain from Dewhurst's in 2006.
There are many successful food takeaways in Leicester such as New Hong Kong Chinese takeaway, Leicester pizza and Expresso Pizza. For more food takeaways please visit this website.
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