Bonnybridge chef's DIY desserts firm is a lockdown success story

An experienced pastry chef who only started up his own business because the COVID-19 lockdown left him jobless has now got a self raising success on his hands.
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Chris Turnbull, from Bonnybridge, was working in one of Scotland’s finest Michelin star restaurants for the famous Tom Kitchin when the coronavirus lockdown left him furloughed from a job he loved.

Rather than count the days until he could return to work, self confessed workaholic Chris began putting the skills he had built up in his 18 years as a pastry chef to good use.

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Desserts at Home by Chris Turnbull was born and it has been growing steadily through word of mouth from satisfied customers ever since, with wife Nicola using her gift for numbers to handle the money side of the business.

Chris Turnbull's Desserts at Home firm, which he started up after he was furloughed from his job earlier this year,  is now going from strength to strengthChris Turnbull's Desserts at Home firm, which he started up after he was furloughed from his job earlier this year,  is now going from strength to strength
Chris Turnbull's Desserts at Home firm, which he started up after he was furloughed from his job earlier this year, is now going from strength to strength

Chris said: “I think this is a fantastic product – it’s just so niche and there’s no one else who is doing it. People being able to make the desserts themselves just adds that wee bit extra to it.

“I genuinely believe it’s just ready to explode. I talked to my boss Tom Kitchin and he thinks I have a real brand here – he’s been really supportive.”

Chris’s brainchild sees him create and send out “dessert kits” which include professional hints and tips, top quality ingredients measured out exactly and a detailed recipe for people to create a dessert fit for the finest restaurants in their own home.

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“We created a product which allows anyone to make something quite special,” said Chris.

At first the Turnbulls, including children Eilidh (9) and Alfie (5), were delivering the dessert kits themselves to friends and family, but soon orders began to get larger and larger.

Having now produced his eighth dessert kit – a new one is now created each month – Chris has been sending scores of them out to customers the length and breadth of the UK, from London to Inverness and everywhere in between.

The Desserts at Home operation has now moved out of the Turnbull’s kitchen to a production premises at Lochlands Industrial Estate in Larbert.

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Chris said: “People are still asking for the kits and now they are asking for kits for Christmas – maybe one that will allow them to make a Yule Log.”

Visit www.dessertsathomebychristurnbull.co.uk for more information.

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