Member Spotlight: House Kitchen Catering

From humble pop-up beginnings to catering at some of the UK’s biggest events, House Kitchen Catering has built a reputation for delivering exceptional food experiences with passion, creativity, and a hands-on entrepreneurial spirit.

Founded in 2019 by husband-and-wife team Matt and his partner, the business has grown from a small local pub residency into a thriving independent catering company, serving everything from corporate events and weddings to festivals and large-scale private functions.

The team behind House Kitchen Catering shares the story of how they got started, the lessons learned along the way, memorable moments from catering at events like Glastonbury and London’s O2, and their advice for anyone looking to build a successful business in hospitality.

What inspired you to start House Kitchen Catering back in 2019?

We’d previously run a handful of successful pizza and Sunday roast pop-ups called Matt’s kitchen in 2018. The pop-ups were born from a desire be our own boss and have a go at doing something ourselves.  We simply walked into a local pub that had a kitchen, with no current food offer; and asked if we could do some pop-ups.  The owner was happy to try it, wanted 15% of sales – and with menus designed, social media launched & food registration sorted- we were in business.  It was revelation.  No business plan, no upfront costs.  Just get something started and run with it – that’s our advice for anyone starting out…learn as you go.  You don’t need to have it all worked out.

A pub residency with Marston’s then became available locally and we jumped at the chance of a full-time venue.  We rebranded into House Kitchen and didn’t really have a plan except to provide consistently great food and service.

How did your early pop-up experiences help shape the business you have today?

We always kept the menus very simple- for example serving only pizza on Friday nights and a small 2 course Sunday lunch allowing us to turn tables 3 times .  As long as the quality & consistency was high, our customers were happy with the offer; and we could streamline staffing and keep costs low.  This set us in good stead for higher costs coming from every angle post-covid, and those associated with running our own unit.  We initially did everything on a shoestring, from getting family members to design our branding, cutting the pizza boards from B&Q kitchen work tops to self-building our website.  Once established, you begin learning where to outsource certain requirements but going through that initial start-up period is great for building resilience down the line.

What made you decide to move from your pub residency into your own catering unit?

We had 4 great years at the pub and learned so much along the way.  A local business approached us to provide midweek catering to their clients and we were getting more enquiries for outside catering.  Running these both from a small kitchen was challenging and the burden of pub hours was growing with a young family.  We wanted our own space and to grow a truly independent business.

As a husband-and-wife team, how do you balance running a business together?

We have worked together on and off for the last 20 years so its second nature now.  At its best- we feel like we can do the work of 3 or 4 people combined.  We split many of the tasks accordingly and have a small team who we call upon for events.  The summer season is very hectic, but there’s still days off here and there to do things outside of work.  Every week feels different and because we offer many styles of food, we never get tired of doing the same thing.  We do have to watch not always discussing business at home; as anyone who has children will know- they find your work SO boring!

Your business covers everything from corporate buffets to festivals and hog roasts – which type of event do you enjoy catering for the most and why?

Corporate buffets are our midweek bread & butter and the weekends come alive in the summer – with weddings & private parties being our favourites.  The settings are the most glamourous, everyone’s in party spirits and the food is pre-ordered & paid- so we know exactly what’s coming.  From a purely business point of view- corporate events are great for similar reasons, with the opportunity of repeat bookings.  Making sure to really look after these clients is vital; ensuring communication, timings, quality & efficiency of service are all top notch.

What have been some standout moments for the business so far? (We’d love to hear more about the O2, Glastonbury VIP catering, and the carnival hog roast!)

The most prestigious is teaming up with Super league Basketball for their finals weekend crew catering.  02 London, Birmingham Utilita & Manchester arena have all been great.

Other standouts – our first wedding last summer.  Canapes & 3 styles of street food in luxurious grounds

Our first ever hog-roast.  Over 300 servings at a local village open day.  Having to sleep next to the rotating pig overnight, nervously checking every hour all was good!

At Glastonbury 2025 we partnered up with our good friends ‘Food 4 Festivals’ to provide pizzas to corporate VIP guests.  It was an honour being able to lend our equipment and knowledge at such a prestigious (and very hot!) event.

Hospitality can be unpredictable at times, what’s been the funniest or most challenging situation you’ve faced while catering an event?

A corporate hog roast in March this year in an exposed car park.  Freezing weather, gale force winds, driving hail & snow.  At one point we were literally hanging from the gazebo to stop it taking off!  Thankfully we managed to acquire extra ratchet straps to tie the gazebo down to the van wheels.  Our hands were numb packing away, but we survived by the skin of teeth and 150 workers thankfully got their lunch.

Your converted cattle trailer sounds like an exciting addition. What inspired the idea and how will it help grow the business?

The inspiration came from working at Glastonbury VIP last year.  We’d served different styles of food effortlessly from a airstream style trailer and knew then we needed a multi-purpose trailer.  The gazebo set-up is great to get started, but to secure the bigger events & weddings we needed something more stylish and practical.  CaterBoxCo have converted ours and it features a drop down ramp that extends the trailer for our pizza oven, bbq or additional serving area.  For us – flexibility is key; to match our varied offer.  We’ve used it twice so far this summer- serving canapes & pizza at a garden party and BBQ at a local carnival.  It’s a great addition and feels like a real mobile kitchen.

What role has your team played in helping House Kitchen Catering grow?

Social media is one area where our team is helping us to grow.  We now have a marketing assistant who produces fantastic content, keeps us abreast of local events & gives opinion on all things marketing.  In a small business, it’s easy to get stuck following what you perceive as the right path.  Don’t be afraid to ask your team for advice on how we could do things better.  We, as owners don’t have all the answers & your team will appreciate being asked for advice and listened to.

What advice would you give to others looking to start or grow their own catering or hospitality business?

Start small, but most importantly- get started.  You can set-up a small catering operation from home with EHO approval or utilise an empty pub kitchen.  Offer to make buffets or cook BBQ’s for friends/family- get some flyers printed with colourful photography on your socials.  With modern technology – website, logo, menus etc can be DIY.  You will represent your business so be punctual, presentable, reliable and go above and beyond to make that first good impression.  Contacts and referrals will be gold dust and the more people you serve and network with- the more business tends to grow.  In the early days, we said yes to everything and nothing was too much trouble.  You’ll learn with time what’s really worth your while, but until then growing your reputation is everything.  There’ll be times when you’ll question whether it’s all worth it, and when this happens- ask yourself if you want to go back to working for someone else again?  The answer will surely be- absolutely not!

What’s next for House Kitchen Catering over the next few years?

Growing our wedding, corporate & events side of the business and building a thriving team to make it happen.  Working on more festivals and getting the children involved along the way would be great .  The opportunity to work on bigger national events & abroad would be amazing.

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