Secrets and pies – with £120k price tag

Nigel Brazier's shop and his tried-and-tested recipes have been in the family for four generations, since his great-grandmother Eve Billingham opened The Cook Shop in Old Hill High Street in 1889.

But now 64-year-old Nigel is retiring and selling-up, and everything must go – including his family's closely-guarded recipes.

"There are half a dozen recipes which have been handed down the generations," he said. "They have been a bit of an open secret, but no-one else has been able to recreate them the same as us.

"They include our pastry recipe, and meats that have no preservatives, and our sage and onion stuffing."

Those enviable dishes have sat behind the counter of The Cook Shop since it was first opened more than a century ago, taking pride of place among the sausages and bacon, homemade pies and pastries, bread, cakes and tinned food.

The shop, which Nigel describes as a 'Black Country delicatessen', in Halesowen Road, was founded in the town by his great grandmother on the High Street which no longer exists, as a means of extra income.

Nigel said: "Her husband was working in Cradley Heath, but it was always about earning more income in that time.

"They had three daughters, there was a need for more money to come in.

"And then she was widowed just before her son Arthur was born, so then of course there was a desperate need to provide income, because she was the sole provider."

Since then the shop has moved twice but has always remained an integral part of the town's community as it was passed down the generations to Nigel.

Being a family business he would often help his mother Iris out when he was young, so he has always had memories of being behind the counter.

He became the first male to run the business when he took over at around the age of 21. Prior to that it had been passed from his great grandmother to her daughter, Mary Priest, and then on to Nigel's mum, who ran it alongside husband Bill.

Himself now a grandfather of three, Nigel, from Clent near Stourbridge, has been on the books at the shop for 49 years, and said he sees people walk in today with their own grandchildren who used to visit as children themselves.

He considers his hundreds of customers to be friends, meeting their children and grandchildren, sharing a joke, and even consoling those who are grieving for lost loved ones.

And it is that which is making letting go of The Cook Shop all the more heart-wrenching.

"It's been an extremely emotional rollercoaster ride," Nigel said. "It's not a decision I came to easily. When it eventually came to doing it I had to think long and hard – my sons wanted me to do it last year but I just couldn't, because of our customer base.

"They are all our friends, 300 to 400 customers that we know on a personal basis. We share their lives, we listen to them, laugh and joke with them, like an old fashioned shop the likes of which hardly exist anymore.

"They bring their children and grandchildren in. If someone's ill, we talk them through it. If someone breaks down in the shop because they are bereaved I take them into the preparation area, sit them down and console them. To walk away from that, it's extremely hard. It's been extremely emotional."

But he has now had to put it on the market for the first time in its history, as his four sons have forged careers of their own elsewhere in the country. That means the premises and staff are all up for sale – as well as those much-loved recipes.

And it is for this reason that he is looking for the right buyer, someone who will continue to use the premises as The Cook Shop, to ensure his staff are kept on and in the same kind of roles. Nigel revealed he has already turned down some interested parties since it went on the market four weeks ago, as they were interested only in the property. He added: "We are looking for someone who is going to take it on. They are going to put their own slant on it."

Following the sale of the shop Nigel hopes to spend more time with his wife Anne, visit his sons and grandchildren, do more walking and volunteer for the Worcester Wildlife Trust.

He added: "I always promised my wife I would retire. My mother and father worked until they were in their 80s for one day a week, and my grandparents worked until their 70s. There was always someone following in their footsteps, so they didn't just stop, they wound down until the next generation took over."