Baxenden-based firm Holland’s Pies gets trial at Arsenal (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Baxenden-based firm Holland’s Pies gets trial at Arsenal

4:38pm Tuesday 31st January 2012 in Baxenden By Jonathon Dillon , Assistant news editor

AN East Lancashire pie firm is gunning for a tasty deal with Premier League giants Arsenal.

Holland's Pies, based in Baxenden, took a lorry-load of supplies to the Emirates Stadium for fans to sample.

And mascot '’Stan the Van Man’ went along to promote the products outside the ground during a clash with Manchester United.

A spokesman said: “We took some samples down there as a test to see what people thought.

“We haven’t signed any deal yet. It was just a trial at this stage.”

Holland’s Pies, which makes around a million pies a week at its factory in Manchester Road, is no stranger to football fans as it currently supplies pies to clubs including Burnley, Leeds, West Brom, Bolton and Manchester City.

It was also the official shirt sponsors for the Clarets between 2007 and 2009.

An interactive museum is still running at the Museum of Science and Industry, in Manchester, commemorating the firm’s 160th anniversary.

It features a visual timeline, memorabilia, a day in the life of a pie display, and a 40-year-old burnt-to-a-crisp pie owned by Tony Johnson, from Bacup, who has taken it on trips around the world.

Holland’s was founded by John Whittaker, who owned a confectionery shop in Haslingden in 1851.