Small cake firm start-ups explode

18-Nov-2011 - Last updated on 18-Nov-2011 at 11:14 GMT

Related tags Great british bake Business Insurance Baking

Worth the candle: Small cake manufacturing start ups have exploded over the past year

The number of small cake manufacturers starting up over the past year has exploded, according to the insurance broker Simply Business.

The online brokerage specialising in business insurance received 2,139 quote requests from start-ups interested in producing cakes; a 54% increase compared with last year and a 325% increase compared with 2009.

Cakes are now the eighteenth most popular start-up business idea compared with twenty-ninth last year. That represents the biggest rise in any new business idea, said the firm.

After polling clients, Jason Stockwood, chief executive of Simply Business, attributed the big rise in start-up cake bakeries to inspiration from the recent spate of TV baking shows such as the Great British Bake Off and Baking Made Easy.

Start-up

Stockwood said: “As Simply Business quotes thousands of businesses every week, we can quickly spot start-up trends and see which are increasing or decreasing in popularity. With resurgence in home-baking, due to shows such as The Great British Bake Off, it was only a matter of time before we saw this impact the start-up business market.”

For more information about the opportunities and challenges affecting small- to medium-sized enterprises (SME), book your free place at Food Manufacture’s SME Business Leaders' Round Table. The half-day event will take place at legal specialist Eversheds’ Leeds office on November 29. Click here for more details.

Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the Federation of Small Businesses acknowledged that the number of small businesses had increased over the past year. But no specific information on cake manufacturers was available, she added.

Simply Business said that the greatest increase in the number of small cake producers over the past year has been in the north of England, with cities such as Durham and Carlisle seeing growth of over 990%. But SME cake manufacturing hot spot was Bolton which showed a 2,000% in rise in the number of start-ups.

In Huddersfield, Wakefield and Doncaster, cake bakers accounted for about 3% of new businesses.

Blessing and challenge

Robin Campbell, owner of Cakes by Robin, one of the insurance firm’s clients, said: “TV Programmes like The Great British Bake off are fuelling interest in baking, which can be both a blessing and challenge for shops like mine.” Although they raise interest in baking, home-making does not advance baked cake sales, she said.

Stockwood added: “It is interesting that despite the recession and subsequent tightening of belts, there is still a market for the little luxuries.”

Simply Business’s figures are based on over 250,000 quote requests received by the company so far this year.

A host of topics directly affecting the profitability of SMEs firms will be discussed at Food Manufacture’s free Business Leaders' Round Table. To take place at Eversheds’ Leeds office on November 29, the event is free to attend for UK food and beverage manufacturers.

For more information, click here , telephone 01293 610231 or email foodmanevents@wrbm.com.