Where it began
I Knead Pizza: Our Story
We are more than just a pizzeria. We’re part of the community, and where there’s community, there’s friendship. Over recent years as I Knead Pizza has developed and grown, we’ve found ourselves humbled by the number of people taking an interest in the people behind the pizza. Who are we? How did we get here? How do we make such amazing, mouth-wateringly great pizza!
So, without further ado, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Paul, and I’m the founder of I Knead Pizza. I started this venture back in 2015 whilst working in an average job, which, like so many of us know all too well, gave no option for progression. Feeling bored, stuck and uninspired, I knew a change was needed.
I had always wanted to run my own business. I would watch The Apprentice on TV, dreaming of working for myself one day. After reading one too many of those ‘do what you love’ quotes, I realised that I already had a solid business idea. I loved baking bread and pizza, and I believed that my food was good enough to market. Inspired by the thought of doing something exciting and bring something great to the world, I Knead Pizza was born.
I started working part-time every Saturday on Stockport Market, grasping every opportunity I could. I worked with a range of event organisers and made as many contacts as possible, and I travelled to Italy to get tips from professional pizza chefs. I knew that the only way to improve was to train with an Italian pizza chef, and I was lucky enough to cross paths with a pizzaiolo right here in Manchester who had a degree in Neapolitan Pizza. It was like a Yoda and Luke situation, but with less Ewoks and more pizza! I reached a position where I was able to take on staff, buy more ovens and convert a horsebox trailer to take up and down the country to share our tasty pizza far and wide! My best mate Mike joined us for the ride and we’ve never looked back.
It was there that things really started to take off. Come rain or shine, we were there, serving delicious, fresh, wood fired pizza to hungry customers! Let me tell you – that trailer was sent to test us, but after securing a stream of steady work, Mike and I decided to take the plunge into the real dream – going into business together and opening our own pizzeria. Don’t get me wrong, all those times cooking pizzas through blizzards, one hand on the pizza peel and the other holding down the gazebo were great, but we were definitely ready for something more stable. So, after endless dreaming and deliberation, we decided to go all in and make it happen. And from there, I Knead Pizza – The Pizzeria was born.
With both Mike and I being from Reddish, we felt that there was no better place to open our pizzeria than right here on our doorstep. Not too far from the centre of Stockport and Manchester, and a great place for first-time buyers, families, and people of all ages to live, we couldn’t wait to position ourselves in the middle of such a welcoming, supportive community. And what an amazing community it has been to us – we’ve been welcomed with open arms.
Our proudest moment to date was having a full pizzeria of happy customers, and things being so busy that we couldn’t keep up. We’re so grateful to all of our loyal customers who have made our dream a reality, and we can’t wait to see you all back in a full pizzeria soon. But don’t worry if you can’t make it to us, we’ll come to you! Because that’s what friends do.
See you soon!
Paul and Mike
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