Member Article

Business growth is icing on the cake!

A MOTHER of three who discovered her love of baking and cake decoration when her son celebrated his first holy communion is targeting further growth as her business enters its second year of trading.

Vicky Pepper, who runs Dec-a-Cake in Stockton, had never enjoyed baking but was persuaded to give it a go for son Nicholas’s post communion tea party.

After realising the pleasure it gave her, she began making cakes for friends and family and started to develop her skills as a cake decorator. And when the demand for her creations became more than was realistic for a hobby, the 37-year-old decided to pursue self employment.

Vicky, who is married and lives in Thornaby, said: “When Nicholas asked me if I would bake for his communion tea party, I thought ‘do I have to?’ But everyone was taking something so I made a cake and to my surprise, I really enjoyed it. I decided to bake a bit more and bought books to teach myself the basics, and before long I had built up a steady base of customers.”

Vicky enrolled at Stockton Riverside College to fine tune the decorative side of baking and it was while on her course that she met fellow enthusiast Julie Frost, who now works for Deca Cake.

The business, based at the Regency West Mall behind Stockton High Street, makes and decorates wedding, christening, seasonal and themed tier and cup cakes in the shape of everything from the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower to Star Wars characters and film, music and television scenes.

Dec-a-Cake also sells supplies for people who enjoy home baking and, in response to requests from customers, Vicky and Julie will soon host weekly classes to teach people the art of sugar craft.

Mum-of-two Julie, who lives in Norton, said: “I came here a while back to help Vicky out and have never gone. We definitely balance each other out as we both have our areas of expertise so we work to our strengths and have the same exacting standards so we know each creation is a good as it can be.”

Former customer services assistant Vicky, who also has a 15-year-old daughter and six-year-old son, added: “The first year has gone well, especially considering the shop is off the beaten track, but now I want us to grow. I’d love to be in a more prominent location on the high street as that would make a massive difference to the success of the business; we’d be getting passing as well as word-of-mouth trade.

“I love what I do and the feedback we get from our customers is fantastic. But of course it’s hard and at times I have thought ‘is it all worth it’. But then I see our creations, especially some of the weird and wonderful cakes we’ve made like the Take That concert stage and the Star Wars figurine cup cakes, and know it is.”

For more information, visit www.decacake.co.uk.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Publicity Seekers PR .