Entrepreneurial friends open burger business in working fire engine

Niall Seymour, 35, Lee Syndercombe, 37, and Anne-Lise Costerg, 34, spent 20 months and £40k converting the vehicle.

They hit upon the idea after attending festivals and eating from food vans.

The trio found the former Dorset & Wiltshire Fire Service truck on Facebook Marketplace and paid £6,000 in September 2023.

They then started trading in May of this year, and say business is going well so far.

Niall, from Bexley, southeast London, said: “We had an idea that we wanted to do a food truck based on a fire engine.

“From going to festivals, we saw that the burger vans and food trucks that are based on an interesting vehicle tend to attract more of a crowd.

“We thought,‘What attracts more attention than a fire engine?’. Flashing lights and a big red thing is pretty eye-catching.

“It was pretty much a random idea. I thought it would be nice to have a bit of a sideline away from work.

“Considering what a fire engine costs new it was a bit of a bargain really. It is probably worth that in scrap metal.”

Niall says that converting the truck was very difficult, as the high chassis meant the roof had to be raised so that they could stand.

The body also needed extending to create space for the kitchen, bringing the total renovation costs to a whopping £40,000.

But after removing the large water tank and lockers for hoses and gear, the internal space has been almost doubled, and the owners are thrilled with the results.

There were also issues with permission, as the vehicle was registered as a fire truck, so it had to be registered again as a food truck with the DVLA.

The owners then needed to secure specialist insurance, as the truck is technically a HGV due to the weight.

After around 20 months of work and technical issues, the business finally got up and running at the end of May this year- and Niall says that things have been going well.

He said: “It was an absolute nightmare to renovate. They are not at all a suitable vehicle to make into a burger van. There were so many issues with it that we had to overcome.

“It wasn’t straightforward at all, but it worked out in the end. And it still looks like a fire truck ,which is what we wanted.

“Everyone loves it. Our biggest problem when we first started was that everyone thought it was an actual fire engine and didn’t realise we were serving food from it.

“What is not to love? It is a great big fire engine. Everyone seems to love the food as well, which is great.”

So far, the business has done events for the Met Police, local sports clubs, and private events such as weddings and birthday parties.

Since launching, Niall says they have even had firefighters as customers, who he says really enjoyed the concept- and the lunch.

In the future, the team have dreams of working bigger events such as festivals, with potential to quit their day jobs and tackle the truck full-time.

Niall said: “It was always meant to be just a side hustle, but if it gets as busy and popular as it could do then I wouldn’t rule out doing this full-time.

“I really enjoy it, we all do. Cooking up food that people like is very rewarding. It’s nice to be able to serve things that we are proud to make.

“It has been going really well, we have had tons of interest considering we are new. We are constantly getting requests for different events. It has really taken off quite well.

“I thought it would be targeted towards kids and men really but everywhere we go everyone loves it. We get so many people coming up to us saying how much they love it.”