OF course in the end sausages and pies are served piping hot.

But Ye Olde Pie & Sausage Shoppe in York’s ancient Shambles is officially cool.

The family-run business is listed as “a cool place” by Apple in its Cool Place Guide – the online iPhone/iPad Travel App.

And it is but one of the many reasons why the two- year-old venture started by Rob and Julie Wilson is pitching for both the Family Business Of The Year and Small Business Of The Year titles in The Press Business Awards 2011.

Rob and Julie had been thinking of opening a sausage shop for some time.

As a slaughterman at Traves in Escrick, Rob had a repetitive strain-type injury and wanted a change.

Julie, York born and bred, and a freeman of the city is already a successful businesswoman who with partners runs Pen-Life Associates Ltd, chartered financial planners in Clifton Park.

It was her business plan which won the funding for the new shop and she continues to deal with the finances and paperwork end of the operation. Rob cuts the meat, cures hams and bacon and makes their award-winning sausages.

It is a truly family affair. Kayleigh, their eldest daughter left her job at Royal Mail in Leeman Road, York, to help run the shop and once it began to expand faster than they could cope, Julie’s brother-in-law, Andrew Johns joined the business, baking pies, serving customers, dealing with orders and carrying out handyman tasks.

His daughter, Drew, and Rob and Julie’s daughter, Remy, both 15, also work there on weekends.

Ingredients are sourced as far as possible from Yorkshire and even the beer for their Boozy Bangers, comes from The York Brewery.

Now, as the demand for their products grows, the Wilsons and Johns are considering calling on the help of other family members to pitch in.