BEST friends Ross Keady and John Nicholson, from Hexham, have taken the plunge and launched their own business, Fire & Dough.

The idea for the stylish wood-fired pizza van serving traditional Neapolitan-style pizzas was thought up by the Queen Elizabeth High School alumni over two years ago.

And after time at university and working abroad, the duo have launched the business in time for the summer season, with a focus on good quality ingredients, style and excellent service with personality.

Friends for over 20 years, the two housemates met through rugby and school and have been close ever since.

They’re now looking forward to working together and meeting new people across the North-East as they take on a totally new challenge.

Along with decisions on kit and technical aspects, Ross and John have made the choice to secure a specialist Italian supplier that they have been working with closely on recipe development.

Customers can expect bold flavours, experimental options, old favourites, plenty of local ingredients and fresh dough made by hand daily.

John (25) said: “It’s been a lifelong ambition to be self-employed and whilst it’s scary starting off, we’re really looking forward to the task ahead, doing it with my best friend only makes it better! We’ve secured pitches in Northumberland already and hope to also work at places like weddings, parties and corporate events as well as in Newcastle.

“We’ve worked hard on the design of the van to make it as attractive and modern as possible whilst also focusing on the authenticity. We found a specialist company in London to carry out the renovations because we knew they had the best reputation and we’re over the moon with the result, it looks amazing.”

Ross (25) said: “I’m really passionate about creating the best pizzas we possibly can and have been working on getting our recipes perfect to make sure that happens.

“We won’t be compromising on quality and we want to make sure we get it just right. It helps that we’ve both eaten a lot of pizza, good and bad!

“It’s great to see the growth in the region particularly within the food and drink industry. It’s something we’ve definitely noticed and seeing everyone support each other is amazing too, we’re excited to finally be getting started, it’s been a long time coming.”

In order to whet the appetite of potential customers, Fire & Dough will be holding a pizza party on Saturday at Tynedale Cricket Club, Hexham from 7pm.