Business partners Luke Christian and Timothy Cottingham are hoping they’ll be toasting more than the ingredients for their new cereal after they appear on prime-time TV next week.

The entrepreneurs are set to feature on the BBC2 show Back to the Land on Tuesday.

The programme focuses on rural businesses and the people behind them.

The founders of Wigton-based muesli company Lakeland Mues have been followed by cameras since their start-up last spring.

Since then, they have agreed deals to supply a range of shops, stores and hotels in Cumbria and south Scotland with their upmarket cereal, as well as Cranstons and Pioneer.

Tim said of Tuesday’s screening: “We’re looking forward to it, we think it will be very funny seeing us in start-up mode.

“If only it could have been filmed a year later, because we are more organised!”

The friends moved into the breakfast cereal business after careers in other industries – Luke as a management consultant for Deloitte in London while Tim worked in the timber industry in Cumbria.

They were introduced to toasted muesli by a Swedish friend and spotted a gap in the market. They quit their jobs to make a success of the new venture.

Their recipes boast a high proportion of seeds, nuts, cereals and fruit, and comes in two varieties – Artman Classic and Tropical Medley.

Luke added: “The producers followed us from Tim thinking about giving up his job in London to our launch at the Taste Cumbria food festival last autumn.

“We have moved on so much since then. We have had a big success over the past year. We are particularly pleased to have got Cranstons and Pioneer on board, which happened so quickly.

“We also have a few four and five-star hotels. People keep reminding us that it is going so well, but we are very self-critical and very impatient.

“We are ahead of where we wanted to be, but already we are talking about what is next.”

The partners are now trying new recipes for a new blend of their cereal without fruits and are also looking to make changes to packaging.

This summer will also see Tim marry his Norwegian fiancee, with Luke as best man.

But before then, they have the TV screening to look forward to.

“We are preparing for lots of mad orders,” he says. “We have been in touch with some of the businesses who have already appeared in the programme and they have said ‘get ready for a mad rush after the broadcast’.

“The website for one business featured last week crashed and another took thousands of pounds in orders.”

Tuesday’s programme will als feature Maryport-based Wild and Fruitful, award-winning makers of jams and preserves.

Wild and Fruitful started in the kitchen of Jane Maggs’ Wigton home over a decade ago and grew so much her kitchen table was no longer big enough, prompting the move to an industrial estate.

Back to the Land is on Tuesday on BBC2 at 8pm.