Chesham: At Home Pizza opens new branch on High Street

The owners of @homePizza have launched a new takeaway in Chesham – a third branch in the county for the family-owned business with takeaways already in Gerrards Cross and Beaconsfield Old Town.

Although the Chesham branch has only had its ‘soft’ launch ahead of the official opening before Christmas, customers can already get their hands on quality pizzas with mouth-watering toppings from the independent takeaway on High Street.  

Co-owner of @homePizza John Kalpakiotis, 28, said: “We are trying to offer the best pizza to customers.

“My family set up a pizzeria in South Africa, going back to when I was four-years-old. We’ve been in the industry as long as I’ve been alive.

John (from right) with his dad Pro Kalpakiotis, Chesham branch partner Valentino and Luke, a future partner and Beaconsfield head chef. (Image: @homePizza)

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“We had five locations across South Africa. We then moved over to the UK and bought a location in central London. We moved to Gerrards Cross and the Gerrards Cross location has been open for 11 years as the first branch.”  

Following a successful opening in Beaconsfield’s London End a couple of years ago, they started considering Chesham for the new site after a tip-off from Deliveroo.

“We worked quite closely with Deliveroo and they gave us an idea of an emerging market. One of our partners lives in Chesham and spotted the location. The High Street is beautiful and it’s an up-and-coming area. A lot of younger generation of clientele is moving there,” he explained.

The Chesham branch is located next door to Brim. (Image: @homePizza)

The Chesham takeaway will have two to five staff members depending on the day, with higher staffing on the weekends.

In comparison, the Beaconsfield site employs around 15 members of staff.

The independent business has gone from strength to strength, with the Beaconsfield location boasting a 4.7/5 Google rating by customers.

This is despite many business sectors taking a “huge knock," although the food industry “hasn’t been the worst hit,” John said. 

The popular pizzas are made with fresh and fermented double-zero flour dough, a secret basil-infused tomato base and baked in a stone oven. (Image: @homePizza)

“Everything is a lot harder than ten years ago. I don’t think consumers know the hard work that goes into the business.”

Plans for the new year include opening a restaurant in Canary Wharf in London.

“We should be open in February, it will be our biggest yet and with seating,” John revealed.

“We have big business plans, maybe not take over the UK but open at least 20 shops,” he added.