A NEW frozen food shop selling homemade food has opened in Salisbury creating around eight full and part-time jobs.

Husband and wife, Jo and Donal Mullins, opened Cook in Minster Street on Friday after 18 months of preparation.

The new shop comes three years after the couple took on the Cook store in Marlborough.

Jo said: "We got to know Cook and the team and really felt passionately about the food.

"We had such a positive response that we started looking at opening another one.

"Cook HQ told us they had had unprecedented interest from people ringing up, asking when a shop was going to open in Salisbury.

"Salisbury is a thriving city which has a fantastic market, some really great restaurants and lovely shops - there's obviously a lot of customers interested in nice food.

"The special thing about Cook is all the food is made using the same ingredients and techniques a good cook would at home, it really tastes home made."

The shop will stock Cook’s full range of Great Taste Award-winning, hand-prepared meals and puddings.

Cook was founded 20 years ago by by Edward Perry and Dale Penfold. It now has 85 stores around the country, some of which are franchises.

All the food is made in a savoury kitchen in Kent and a puddings kitchen in Somerset. Packaging carries the name of the chef who prepared it.

The business is one of the UK’s first, certified B Corporations, committed to using business as a force for good in society and seeks to forge close relationships in every community where it operates.

About four per cent of its kitchen staff are ex-offenders with the business keen to help those who want to change their lives for the better.

The new shop in Salisbury will offer local community groups a 30 per cent discount on food for any events.

Jo, a mother-of-two, said: "There is a range to suit every palate from meals for one to two portions and family size meals as well as meals for 10 to 12 people so it really great for entertaining."

She added: "It was so exciting to open the doors on Friday and straight away have interested people come in - some of whom know Cook and have eaten it, and others who have heard about it from other people.

"I am really delighted with the response we have had."