Charlie Bigham’s
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1994
- HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
- Headcount251–500
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
Charlie Bigham’s firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Charlie Bigham’s
- Legal name
- Bigham's Limited
- Website
- https://bighams.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1994
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 251–500 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Charlie Bigham’s industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Premium Ready Meals
- NAICS
- Perishable Prepared Food Manufacturing (311991)
- SIC
- Food And Kindred Products (2000)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Premium Gourmet & Chef-Curated Meal Kits/Prepared Meals (CRAHAJAK)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Refrigerated Prepared Meals (Chilled Ready Meals) (CRADADAM)
Keywords
Where Charlie Bigham’s is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- London
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Charlie Bigham’s business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Premium Ready Meals Retail: Charlie Bigham's generates revenue through the sale of premium, handmade ready meals via retail partnerships (Waitrose) and direct-to-consumer channels. The company reported 8.8% revenue growth in 2023-2024.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | — | Standard Premium Range |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Brasserie Collection |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels3 records
Charlie Bigham’s product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Charlie Bigham's handmakes premium ready meals in small batches using fresh ingredients, including curries, pies, pasta, fish dishes, and the higher-end Brasserie collection. Dishes are hand-prepared in the company's UK kitchen and finished by the consumer at home, sold through Waitrose and the company's own website.
Product overview
Charlie Bigham's is a premium British ready meal brand offering a diverse portfolio of handmade dishes. The core offering consists of over 30 different ready meals including award-winning curries, comforting pies, pasta dishes, fish preparations, and international cuisine options. The company operates a platform approach with its main ready meal line supplemented by the premium Brasserie sub-brand (priced up to £30 at Waitrose), pan-fry noodles for Asian-inspired meals, and a cookbook. All products are handmade in small batches using fresh ingredients, with positioning as a restaurant-quality at-home dining alternative.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Ready Meals (Core Product Line) Handmade premium ready meals including curries, pies, pasta dishes, fish dishes, and international cuisine options, made with fresh ingredients in small batches and finished by the consumer at home. Targeted at UK consumers seeking restaurant-quality meals conveniently at home.
- Brasserie Collection Premium ready meal range priced up to £30 per meal, positioned as a dine-in alternative for consumers seeking restaurant-quality meals at home, available exclusively at Waitrose at launch.
- Pan-Fry Noodles Asian-inspired noodle dishes that are pan-fried by the consumer at home, part of the company's expanded ready-meal range.
- Charlie Bigham's Cookbook Charlie Bigham's branded cookbook available for purchase, offering recipes and culinary guidance consistent with the brand's handmade, fresh-ingredient approach.
Quantifiable outcome
- 8.8% revenue growth in 2023-2024
Companies that use Charlie Bigham’s
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments1 record
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Charlie Bigham’s technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature1 record
Charlie Bigham’s partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators2 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Charlie Bigham’s competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Cook Trading (Cook): Cook is the UK's leading premium handmade ready-meal brand, sold predominantly through Waitrose and other premium grocers with a DTC channel. It mirrors Charlie Bigham's positioning, retail partnerships, and handmade-from-scratch production model almost one-for-one, making it the closest direct peer.
- Baxters: Baxters is a long-established UK prepared-food brand best known for premium soups but with a broader chilled ready-meals range sold through major UK grocers. It competes with Charlie Bigham's at the premium end of the chiller and shares a similar heritage-brand, quality-ingredient positioning.
- Wiltshire Farm Foods: Wiltshire Farm Foods is a large UK ready-meal manufacturer and direct-to-consumer delivery specialist serving older and convenience-seeking consumers with frozen prepared meals. It overlaps with Charlie Bigham's on category (ready meals) and UK geography, although it skews more DTC and frozen rather than premium and chilled.
- New Covent Garden Soup Co. New Covent Garden Soup Co. is a premium UK prepared-soup brand sold through major supermarkets, owned by the same group as Baxters. It is a direct peer in premium chilled prepared food sold via UK grocery, although its menu is narrower (soups and one-pot dishes).
- Parsley Box: Parsley Box is a UK direct-to-consumer ambient ready-meal brand that disrupted the category through online ordering and home delivery. It is comparable on category and UK target consumer but competes on convenience and ambient shelf-stable format rather than Charlie Bigham's chilled, premium positioning.
Broad incumbents
- HelloFresh UK: HelloFresh is the UK's largest meal-kit subscription operator with a broad portfolio of recipes and a national logistics network. It is comparable on the 'home meal replacement' value proposition but operates a fundamentally different subscription/meal-kit model rather than Charlie Bigham's finished-premium-meal retail play.
- Gousto: Gousto is a major UK meal-kit subscription brand offering chef-designed recipes delivered with pre-portioned ingredients. It competes for the same 'premium dinner at home' occasion as Charlie Bigham's but with a recipe-box model rather than fully cooked prepared meals.
- Mindful Chef: Mindful Chef is a UK premium health-positioned meal-kit brand focused on nutritionist-designed recipes. It targets a similar premium consumer to Charlie Bigham's but occupies the meal-kit side of the home-meal-replacement category rather than fully cooked chilled meals.
Emerging players
- LEON (restaurant-to-retail ready meals): LEON has expanded its naturally fast-food restaurant brand into supermarket ready meals in the UK, directly addressing the same 'restaurant-quality at home' demand as Charlie Bigham's Brasserie line. It is comparable as an emerging restaurant-to-retail ready-meal concept overlapping the Brasserie price point and occasion.
- YO! Sushi / YO! retail ready meals: YO! has extended its Japanese restaurant brand into supermarket ready meals, pan-Asian noodle bowls, and bento-style SKUs in the UK. It is relevant as a restaurant-brand-to-retail prepared-meal player with overlap in noodle and Asian-inspired categories where Charlie Bigham's has just launched its own noodles range.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Charlie Bigham’s social profiles
Digital presenceCharlie Bigham’s compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
Charlie Bigham’s financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Charlie Bigham’s leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Charlie Bigham’s funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Charlie Bigham’s M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Charlie Bigham’s
What does Charlie Bigham’s do?
Charlie Bigham's handmakes premium ready meals in small batches using fresh ingredients, including curries, pies, pasta, fish dishes, and the higher-end Brasserie collection. Dishes are hand-prepared in the company's UK kitchen and finished by the consumer at home, sold through Waitrose and the company's own website.
Is Charlie Bigham’s a public or private company?
Charlie Bigham’s is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Charlie Bigham’s founded?
Charlie Bigham’s was founded in 1994. It employs 251 to 500 people.
Where is Charlie Bigham’s based?
Charlie Bigham’s is headquartered in London, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Charlie Bigham’s make money?
One revenue line is on record: premium Ready Meals Retail.
Who are Charlie Bigham’s's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Cook Trading (Cook), Baxters, Wiltshire Farm Foods, New Covent Garden Soup Co. and Parsley Box. Broad incumbents are HelloFresh UK, Gousto and Mindful Chef. Emerging players are LEON (restaurant-to-retail ready meals) and YO! Sushi / YO! retail ready meals.
Does Charlie Bigham’s have an API?
No public API is recorded for Charlie Bigham’s.
What industry is Charlie Bigham’s in?
Charlie Bigham’s's product category is Premium Ready Meals. Its primary akta.pro industry code is CRAHAJAK, Premium Gourmet & Chef-Curated Meal Kits/Prepared Meals, with a secondary code of CRADADAM, Refrigerated Prepared Meals (Chilled Ready Meals). Its NAICS code is 311991 and its SIC code is 2000.