STARTING your own company can prove to be a risky business but when it works the rewards can be remarkable.

Camilla Stephens decided it was a risk worth taking and launched a kitchen start-up back in 2003.

Now, 15 years later, that start-up is Higgidy Pies, the Shoreham-based company which has become a multi-million pound success story.

It is now the third largest savoury pastry brand in the United Kingdom and the company’s products feature on the shelves of 2,500 supermarkets right across the country.

Higgidy Pies produces more than 226,000 pies, quiches and sausage rolls every week, which is a quite mind-boggling amount.

It also employs 280 people at its headquarters on the Dolphin Road Industrial Estate.

Between 2015 and 2016 the company’s sales grew to £24 million and it was named as one of the fastest-growing companies on the London Stock Exchange’s 1,000 companies to inspire Britain a couple of years ago.

Higgidy has also moved with the times, introducing vegetarian and vegan products.

Camilla’s philosophy is refreshingly simple.

She says: “For me a laid back lunch with family or friends is so much more satisfying than a fussy four-course meal.”

She adds she is one of her company’s perfect customers, saying: “Higgidy is not about striving for perfection, it’s about being crafty and improvising and feeling good, not guilty.”

So there you have it. It’s all about keeping things refreshingly simple. It is certainly a recipe that is satisfying its customers while also proving a major success story.