Andy has been in the catering industry for the best part of 18 years now however it was only a few years back when he made the decision to focus on the mobile side of catering and he certainly hasn’t had a smooth ride!

Originally Andy decided to purchase a second hand van and some cooking equipment from eBay before taking it to a ‘professional’ to get the van fitted out. Whilst the van was getting kitted out Andy utilised time by securing bookings and trading locations to ensure he was straight in business as soon as the van was road worthy. Sadly, this never happened as Andy was scammed of over £12,000! He was forced to cancel all bookings, lost his pitch reservations and was left with an unsafe, unfinished van conversion.

This huge financial loss forced Andy to step away from catering and take up a courier driver job as he had a family to provide for. Despite ‘tearing him to pieces’ Andy stuck the job for over a year before stumbling across Trailblazer BBQ online.

Once Andy enquired, it wasn’t long before we got chatting and advised him that a 600s Grillmaster was the obvious choice to get his catering business back on the road to success.

Lo and behold, Appy Days Catering was born!

“You boys have done me proud. If it wasn’t for Trailblazer BBQ, I would still be stuck in a job that was eating me alive.”

How have you found it so far? What events are you currently trading at?

“The first year was tough as I just couldn’t get going with it. I was searching the internet every night for help and ideas on how to get work. Then I found ‘Street Feasts’ and ‘Food Truck’ which are two great platforms for securing trading posts and bookings.”

“Once I was able to get the Balzer out there on show, the enquiries I got was non-stop.”

*Food Truck is a great platform that offers traders the opportunity to secure bookings and trading pitches throughout different areas with ease. *

“The next step for Appy Days is to target weddings & corporate events, that’s where the real money is!”

“Don’t get me wrong, we are doing a promising trade with street food and roadside trading . I went to Sky to cater for 4 hours. Just myself and my daughter. We pitched up at 11.30 and by 2PM we had completely sold out, clearing over £600 profit in just over two hours. I have also secured the catering at Bedford International Athletics Stadium for the whole season!”

“Being able to go out and work for myself in a job that I have a passion for is just brilliant. Not to mention that it has brought the family together as my two daughters (8 & 12) are out giving me a helping hand on site when they aren’t at school. Customers often mention to us that it’s great to see a family working so well together. Smiles all round!”

“One thing I’ve noticed is that people are prepared to pay for a good gourmet burger. I’m charging premium prices and people are happy to pay it. Our wraps also fly out however no matter how fancy your menu is, a burger wins all day long! I’m not just talking your average burger; it’s moved up a notch. I do a chilli burger and customers are lovin it!”

“Favourite feature has to be the ability to raise and lower the grill. It gives great control over the cooking process & people just love watching it. It’s great theatre seeing the loaded grill raise and lower as fats drip off the food and hit the bed of searing hot charcoal. The heat the Trailblazer throws out is another immense factor! It’s great for searing & sealing the juices in the burgers!”

“Overall, things for me have really started to take off. Our success is partly down to the ‘Blazer team, I can’t praise you guys enough. Big up the ‘Blazer boys & hopefully we will be doing business again sometime soon.”

Are you keen to start your own catering business?

Call Trailblazer BBQ today on +44 28 9057 9000 or email [email protected] and find out how Trailblazer BBQ could make your dreams turn to reality!