A takeaway shop in Wolverhampton launched by renowned Black Country pie factory Mad O’Rourke’s has closed.

Mad O’Rourke’s Food Factory shop was an offshoot of the pie restaurant in Hurst Lane, Tipton. A handwritten sign on the door of the Queen Street shop in Wolverhampton reads: “We would like to thank all our loyal customers for their support.”

Owner Peter Towler today told the Express & Star the shop had been “doing OK” but it had been decided to sell it as a going concern to concentrate on the pub side of the business. 

In business terms, going concerns are firms in financial difficulty and in a situation where it cannot be taken for granted they will continue. 

The company say the staff working at the shop will be offered jobs elsewhere within the business. The premises are now being sold on to another private firm, with the intention of re-opening it at some stage as a food shop.  

Mr Towler said: “We are in the process of selling the site to another company who I understand will be offering food, so it will be similar to what we did. 

“We were doing OK but have decided to sell the shop as it was a going concern. There were only a few members of staff working there, three or four, and they’ve got jobs elsewhere in the company.”

On the closure news, Labour councillor Roger Lawrence, whose ward includes the city centre, said: “It is a shame but it is a very competitive for lunchtime food in the city.

“While we are waiting for the retail court expansion with Summer Row, businesses will suffer losses until we can ensure more people are coming into the city for an improved shopping offer.”

The company opened up a new branch of the Pie Factory pub in Camp Hill, Wordsley, back in August, creating 25 new jobs. 

More than £500,000 was spent on transforming the former premises of The Vine Inn into a Mad O’Rourkes venue, complete with a wall-mounted fibreglass pig.

Mad O’Rourke’s Pie Factory in Tipton was built in 1856 with presses from the Royal Ordinance works at Bilston.