A Sussex couple who quit City jobs to make chocolate have been tasting success.

Chichester-based Helen and Simon Pattinson own Montezuma's Chocolates in Duke Street, Brighton.

The inspiration behind the business was a South American holiday.

Mrs Pattinson said: "We were both working as lawyers in London and in 1999 we visited Argentina where there were amazing, vast chocolate shops. When we got back to England, we found we just could not get hold of the same quality of chocolate anywhere. We had both wanted to get out of the rat race and decided if we couldn't buy the chocolate, we'd just have to make it ourselves."

Montezuma's was founded 18 months ago and now employs 16 staff.

Mrs Pattinson said: "Initially we rented a tiny unit in West Sussex and bought a chocolate machine which three of us tried to master. It was literally a case of trial and error and the result of many wild experiments. Luckily, chocolate can be melted down again and re-used. Once we got it right, we opened the Brighton store in summer 2000."

The company is set to open two new stores in Chichester and Solihull next year and a mail order service is thriving.

Mrs Pattinson said: "We receive orders from all over the world, mainly from people who have visited Brighton and loved the chocolate. We regularly deliver to the United States, Australia and even Indonesia, which is off the beaten track."

Last week, the husband and wife team was praised for the quality of their chocolate at the national Great Taste Awards and the Organic Food Awards in London. Their wares were given top place in each competition.

Mrs Pattinson said: "We have had a great start and now we want chocolate from Brighton to become known as the finest and most innovative in the UK."

www.montezumas.co.uk