The owner of a popular food truck in Princes Risborough says a torrent of awards and nominations after just three years in business are a testament to loyal customers, high-quality ingredients and an enduring ‘passion for food’.

Will Batting had a different reaction than you might expect when, fresh from a summer break and back in the office for his accountancy job in 2021, he was handed a redundancy notice.

The 36-year-old, who grew up in Risborough, had moved between different companies over a few years, with the days of spreadsheets and accounts bleeding into each other Groundhog Day-style.

It was no real surprise, then, when he took the redundancy as a sign to make a change and veer in a new career direction – immediately seizing upon a long-term “passion for food” as inspiration.

“I got out of that meeting and straight away took out a personal loan, got a trailer and just jumped right in, no caution to the wind at all.”

The pivot marked the birth of Burgervore, a multi-award-winning business based in Princes and Monks Risborough that has grown a loyal local following, catered for the British Grand Prix and now, been shortlisted for Best Burger of the Decade at the National Burger Awards for its hugely popular Basic Instinct pattie.

Suffice to say, it’s been a whirlwind few years for Will and the team – which includes his wife Martha, who helps out with admin alongside her full-time NHS job.

The business is also gearing up to launch its second truck, which Will hopes will make a dual events catering presence and local base at The Whistler car park in Haddenham easier to maintain.

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Burgervore also won the southeast heats of the British Street Food Awards in May and will go head-to-head with eateries around the UK in the grand final next month.

It all makes for a very exciting and busy time for Will, who unsurprisingly has not regretted that surprise redundancy for second.

He said: “The recognition we’ve had has been phenomenal and a bit scary to think about. Something we always keep in mind is giving local people good, locally-sourced food and I think that’s what sets us apart from other burger and street food places.

“There are challenges, of course, and business tends to drop in the winter or when it’s raining. But we’ve never not had a five-star review online and the best thing is reading about people’s experiences and letting that motivate us to keep going.

“There was a recent one that I think is my favourite review ever. A lady had never tried out food before, then she had a burger, and it made her oxytocin levels rise so much that she went into Labour. It was definitely the most memorable one we’ve heard so far!”  

The Basic Instinct burger, which will compete for the ‘burger of the decade’ title in London on September 3, is a smashed beef patty with Swiss Cheese, American cheese, ‘vore’ burger sauce, streaky bacon, lettuce, onion, beef tomato and sliced gherkins.

For more information, visit https://www.burgervore.co.uk/.