Charlie Bigham single serving ready meals

Charlie Bigham’s has expanded its ready meals portfolio with a range of dishes for one. 

Four of the brand’s most popular recipes - fish pie, lasagne, macaroni cheese and moussaka - are this week rolling into 200 Waitrose stores and Ocado in single-serve portions (rsp: £4.50).

The quartet would make the brand accessible to the 52% of people in relationships who found themselves dining alone at least once a week, said founder Charlie Bigham, adding the new format would also appeal to couples who wanted different dishes when eating together.

“Creating high-quality, delicious dishes for two will always be at the heart of what we do, but we’ve decided to expand our range with a small selection of single portions so our food can be enjoyed on any evening - even when you find yourself going solo,” he said.

Bighams Ltd, the registered name of the wider group, boosted revenues 11.1% from £26.6m to £29.6m in the year to 31 August 2014, according to accounts filed at Companies House in June.

Charlie Bigham’s was a SME Brand of the Year finalist in The Grocer Gold Awards 2015.