Business Success – Tyrells Potato Chips

One of the strangest success stories over the past few years for UK based companies is the story of William Chase. His farming failure made him success by creating some of the most amazing crisps that nation loves. William Chase bought his father’s farm in Herefordshire called Tyrells Court back in 1984 when he was only 20. The business followed the trend of most farms back in the 1990’s and he was soon declared bankrupt after struggling for a few years. The success came when William borrowed an old fryer from a local fish and chip shop to see if he could make crisps from his potatoes that were officially scrap 10 years later and in 2003 he invested £1.5m into the crisp making venture with no looking back. The theory was to offer customers crisps with no pesticides and fully traceable ingredients all natural from the UK and this won the hearts of the UK and today the annual turnover is over £10 million with upmarket shops selling 500,000 bags a week. William’s success might also be down to the flavours that he decided on such as cider vinegar and sea salt and the much loved Ludlow sausage with wholegrain mustard. William Chase has not had an easy run and fought a legal battle and won against Tesco’s when they tried to sell the crisps without permission and he won.