A proud Wigan man has become world pie eating champion after impressively scoffing one in just 36 seconds flat.
Everyone from Greater Manchester knows that Wigan is a place synonymous with pies, with bakeries flogging the beloved pastry lining the streets of the town centre, and even the mascot for the town’s football club, Wigan Athletic, being a big pie named Crusty.
So is it really any surprise that the man who has just been crowned World Pie Eating Champion 2023 is a Wiganer?
We wouldn’t expect anything less.
49-year-old Barry Rigby is no stranger to competitive pie eating, having already previously being crowned fastest in 2009 and 2014’s competition – but now he has another title to add to his ever-growing collection.
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Barry has just won this year’s World Pie Eating Championships on Tuesday (24 January) by wolfing down a 12×3.5cm meat and potato pie in just 35.4 seconds.
The World Pie Eating Championships is a tradition that stretches back 26 years, and this year, the competition took place at Harry’s Bar in Wigan, with 15 brave pie-eating ‘athletes’ all lining up and risking choking to be crowned the winner for 2023.
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Previous pie-eating champions include 43-year-old Ian Gerrard, and 41-year-old Martin Appleton-Clare, with the latter having taken home the trophy a staggering five times – but although both took part in this year’s competition too, they sadly lost out to Barry’s impressive skills this time around.
Barry has called the championships an “important local event” that’s a “good thing to take part in”.
But what is his secret then? What does Barry put he three-time success down to?
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Well, the winner told ITV Granada: “You’ve got to take small bites and keep chomping at it, swallow it quickly and get it down you as quickly as you can without dropping any bits.”
While we’re all suitably impressed by Barry’s new title, one person he claims won’t be so much is his wife – “She won’t be surprised I won, I eat a lot of pies,” he concluded.
Featured Image – ITV Granada
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Home Bargains has announced a special two-day closure of all UK stores
Emily Sergeant
Home Bargains has, once again, announced it’ll be closing all its UK stores on both Boxing Day and New Year’s Day this year.
And it’s to make sure staff get a ‘well deserved break’.
After what has been yet another busy year for the retail industry, many workers have been left feeling like they could do with a little extra time off, which is why Home Bargains is following on with what has become a now-annual tradition by shutting up shop on two bank holidays.
All of our stores will be closing for Boxing Day & New Years Day.
Announcing the move in a post on social media, the discount retailer confirmed: “All of our stores will be closing for Boxing Day and New Years Day. We would like to thank all our colleagues for how hard you have worked this past year, and want you to relax and enjoy the Christmas break with your loved ones.”
Of course, this isn’t the first time the retailer has kept its doors shut on bank holidays.
Many shoppers will recall it has made the same decision to give hardworking staff a break every year since 2019.
Explaining a little more about the decision taken to close all its stores, Home Bargains said: “As a family-run business, we know the importance of being together at Christmas with those we care about most, now more than ever.
“This is our way of saying thank you to our colleagues for their continued hard work and dedication.”
Featured Image – Geograph
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Two Greggs in Manchester will be serving their breakfast menu in the evening next week
Emily Sergeant
Who says breakfast has to end at 11am?
In news that’s set to be music to the ears of breakfast lovers in Manchester, Greggs is giving them exactly what they want.
We all know that brunch is a ‘thing’ by now, so now it’s time for brinner to make a name for itself instead, as Greggs has teamed up with Heinz to bring its much-loved breakfast menu back for tea time, kicking off from 4pm onwards.
The move comes as a new survey has found that the majority of Mancs (69%) admit to enjoying eating breakfast food in the evening, saying it’s ‘convenient and comforting’ – even ranking breakfast as a ‘more important’ meal than tea, as well (38% vs 36%).
Two Greggs in Manchester will be serving their breakfast menu in the evening next week / Credit: Greggs (Supplied)
Greggs says it has ‘lost count’ of the amount of customers that have tried to order breakfast items after the usual cut-off time, especially in Greater Manchester.
But luckily for those breakfast-loving Mancs, they can finally get their favourite breakfast and sauce pairing long after the morning rush is over next… but only at two Greggs branches, and only for a very limited time.
On Wednesday 14 and Thursday 15 October, the Heinz x Greggs Brinner collab will be available at Greggs St Mary’s Gate and Greggs Oxford Road, from 4-7pm only.
“We’ve lost count of the number of customers who have tried their luck ordering breakfast after 11am, so when Heinz came to us with the idea of making Brinner a reality, it felt like the perfect excuse to give the people what they want,” explained Zoe Harris, who is the Customer Director at Greggs.
“And let’s be honest, a Greggs Bacon Roll just wouldn’t be the same without a squeeze of Heinz Tomato Ketchup.”
Emily Sergeant -
25th January 2023 
