A popular oatcake shop in Stoke-on-Trent has new owners after it went up for sale earlier this year.

Foley Oatcakes, based on King Street in Fenton and with a stall at Longton Market, was taken over by Tony Davies his wife Andrea and son Daniel two weeks ago.

The Davies family, from Longton, say they have been eating oatcakes from the King Street shop once a week for generations and have been busy getting to know the staff and regular customers.

Foley Oatcakes first opened in 1966 and was last run by Kinga and Matteo Loforte who sold the shop, equipment and the secret recipe earlier this year, meaning customers can expect the same tasting traditional Staffordshire oatcakes and pikelets under the new ownership.

Daniel told Stoke Nub News: "We just saw it advertised for sale one night and I've always been interested in the food business so we dug a bit deeper into the numbers and realised it made sense, it seems like a good business.

"We had a lot of meetings and calls with the owners who were very helpful and provided a lot of information. Then we decided that it was perfect for us.

"The handover was very smooth. The recipe and the production process is kind of unique to each oatcake shop around the city with the different quantities of ingredients and types of ingredients but also the fermentation process as well and how long you leave it. So a bunch of different things, but it's still a secret!"

Oatcakes baking at Foley Oatcakes. (Foley Oatcakes)

The main King Street shop will be open Wednesday-Sunday with the stall on Longton Market open on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

The new owners have also introduced a 20% discount on hot food for emergency service workers when they are in uniform and they are running a social media campaign where one person could win free oatcakes for an entire year.

Tony said: "My parents grew up eating Foley Oatcakes, as did I, so it's a real honour to carry this historic business forward and hopefully share our great tasting oatcakes and pikelets with more people in Staffordshire within the near future

"Our goal is simple, protect the tradition of Staffordshire oatcakes and serve the Stoke-on-Trent community with pride."

The family are aiming to get their feet under the table in the coming months, learning the needs of their regular customers and the shop but they have hopes to expand the Foley Oatcakes across Staffordshire in the future.

Daniel added: "We want to do quite a bit in the community and kind of be a bit of a force for good and give back to the area.

"We don't want to change too much in the beginning, we just want to make sure everything works correctly and learn about the process, the business and the needs of the customers as well. 

"Ideally we grow the business. A perfect scenario would be to get Foley Oatcakes everywhere in Staffordshire rather than just the one shop.

"So that's the overall kind of long-term goal for now. We're just taking it one step time."

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