Gloucester man inspired to open smoked meat take-away after father's death

Carl Ashworth, 35, from Gloucester, owns the food take away business Hot Box has been open for two years at the Krate Village in Whitminster
-Credit:Carl Ashworth


A Gloucester man discovered his talent for creating delicious dishes as a teenager after being given an opportunity by chefs at his first job in a local pub. He was only 14 when he started working as a pot wash, and following an accident that prevented him from continuing in this role, the pub's chefs began teaching him the ropes of their trade.

Carl Ashworth, 35, from Gloucester, has enjoyed a varied and exciting career in the food industry since his teenage years. He startedon an apprenticeship at a small restaurant at the age of 16, where he learned virtually everything he needed to know about preparing and cooking food from scratch.

Eventually, Carl set up his own bakery, which, like many businesses, was impacted by the pandemic and forced to shut down. However he burst back onto the food scene with his new business creating delicious food menu with smoked meats and even deep fried mac 'n' cheese on the menu.

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Carl said: "I got my first job working at a pub in a pot wash when I was 14-years-old. I had an accident outside of work which prevented me from getting my hand wet. The bosses placed me in the pastry section in the kitchen. I loved plating the desserts and decided from then on I wanted to be a chef.

"When I was 16-years-old I got an apprenticeship at a small organic restaurant called Mad Hatters. There I learned to make food from scratch from including bread, and was even taught butchery, we did and I was trained to do everything.

"After the owners retired two years later, I stayed on with the new owners Matthew and Hannah Beardshall. I stayed on for over four years and worked in the two rosette restaurant.

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"I was lucky enough to be given a lot of freedom in these jobs so I could literally create anything I wanted to do and helping write menus and running the day to day ins and outs of the restaurant.

"After a few more stints in other restaurants I decided I wanted to be a baker as baking was always my strong point. I got a job at Salt Bakehouse where I progressed through the ranks to bakery manager.

"I left the business and I opened my own business called BoysBakery in Quedgeley. It was a tremendous first year where I won an award at the world bread awards for 'best ciabatta' and I made it to the finals at the baking industry awards in the best speciality bread product of the year.

"It was a blow when I had to take the decision to close after due to the enormous increase in literally everything, and the knock on effects from the Covid pandemic."

Carl Ashworth, 35, from Gloucester, owns the food take away business Hot Box has been open for two years at the Krate Village in Whitminster
Carl Ashworth, 35, from Gloucester, owns the food take away business Hot Box has been open for two years at the Krate Village in Whitminster -Credit:Carl Ashworth

Carl had previously decided to open a bakery in the Krate Village in Whitminster when his Quedgeley bakery was closing and there he was set to join a cohort of small independent businesses. He was inspired to change the business direction after completing a course and decided to go into the food take-away business.

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He said: "We were in the process of fitting our first bakery shop at Krate Village. when all this was all happening. We were unsure of what the future of the bakery would be so whilst we had the shop I hosted some pop up nights selling takeaway smoked meat boxes.

"Smoking meats was something I really wanted to get into as when I was a young chef. My Dad built me a custom smoker for me to have a go with and I literally had no idea how to use it or how it all works so I never got round to it.

"Fast forward 12 years, and he sadly passed away after taking his own life. When we clearing out his outhouse we found the smoker which was in rough shape.

"I felt guilty for never using it so I want to make sure it was my next thing to take on and learn. So fast forward to the bakery closing down, this was the next obvious step.

"Truth be told I had no idea what I was doing or if this was going to work. So far it has and I’m just about to hit the two-year mark of being open."

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"The Hot Box sells a selection of smoked meats. There is always a always 18 hour oak smoked pulled pork smoked Gloucester old spot sausage and the third option I change weekly.

"A popular item on the menu are things like the deep fried mac 'n' cheese ball, smoked beef cheeks in Guinness or smoked pork belly burnt ends. Chicken burgers were added to the menu a few months after but have become really popular on the menu."

Carl hopes the business will grow in the future as the demand for his food grows. He even anticipates he may even look to open a bakery again in the future.

He said: "In the future, ideally I’d like to bring on a new partner to help grow the business and potentially open up a second shop, then further down the line get the bakery side of things going again."