The business A-level student already making some dough

A TEENAGER has launched his own pizza takeaway business.

Tom Stuart, 17, operates from his home near Turville on Saturday nights after spending £800 on two ovens.

On his best evening to date he sold 60 of his stone-baked Neapolitan-style pizzas, which have a “puffy” crust.

Tom, who is studying A-levels in business, photography and music at Shiplake College, learned to make pizzas during the first coronavirus lockdown last year.

He borrowed an oven from the Barn café at Turville Heath, where he has worked part-time for four years, while it was closed due to the Government restrictions to prevent the spread of covid-19.

He watched online videos to help him perfect his recipes and techniques and asked members of his family to taste them.

Their positive response convinced him to set up Pizza Please and sell to the public and he bought the ovens with money saved up from working at the café. Tom said: “I have always liked pizza but had never made it properly so I watched lots of videos and did a lot of trial and error — with a few disasters — but after a few failures I started getting it right.

“I tested them on my parents and grandparents and thought I could start selling them.

“I make the dough by mixing flour, water, salt and yeast and then I knead it up and leave it to prove overnight. The pizzas are all pre-ordered so I know how many bases that I need to make.

“When I’m ready to make the pizzas I stretch out the dough. I don’t use a rolling pin as if you did roll it out you wouldn’t get the crust.

“I then put the tomato sauce on it and add the toppings, which are all a good quality and from local delis and Waitrose. I use only the freshest ingredients including fior di latte mozzarella, herbs and vegetables. The meats come from suppliers in Oxfordshire and Dorset.

“I buy the best Italian ingredients through a local Italian family business. Our dough is made using traditional ‘00’ flour along with a slow prove for best results.”

The pizzas include classics, such as Margherita and Hawaiian, and there is a vegetarian one and another with a Bolognese topping. They cost between £8 and £11.

Tom said: “I started in March and I sell pizza on Saturday evenings. On average I sell about 40 pizzas a night but my best was 60 people in Hambleden just before Easter.”

He has now bought a horsebox, which he has called “Hetty” and is refurbishing so he can attend at private parties. He said: “I am currently repainting it and I will build worktops inside it and then it’s good to go.

“I want it to be quite smart so I’m painting it grey and white so I can add value to it and potentially sell it on.”

Tom can’t afford the cost of insurance to drive a car powerful enough to tow the horsebox so instead he has bought a vintage tractor, which he has nicknamed “Florence the Ferguson”.

Although he currently works on his own, Tom says that once he begins catering for parties and other events he will employ waiters and a front of house team.

He said: “I’ve always wanted to run my own business but I’m not sure whether I want to stay in the hospitality industry because it is quite hard work.

“It is fine when you are young but when you get older it is quite a labour of love. I will keep doing it this summer and I will see where it goes until the end of the year when I finish college.”

For more information, visit www.pizzaplease.uk