BUSINESS is booming for Stalybridge catering firm Candy’s Cupcakes, despite the coronavirus crisis.
Owner Candice Bannister feared the worst when the lockdown was imposed and temporarily shut her studio off Cheetham Hill Road.
But a seven-fold increase in online orders has more than compensated for the loss of other business.
Candice explained: “I shut the studio because much of my work is branded for events while I also make a lot of wedding cakes and lost that business
“I realised after days we could stay open for the online shop and began to push that.”
Candice, who employs one person, admitted business is “crazy” pointing out daily online orders have gone from about seven or eight to 50 which are delivered to your door.
And it is far from simply being cupcakes that are in demand.
Candice said: “We do letter box cakes – four slices of different cakes from six flavours – which are the most affordable as they can be sent through the post.“We have cake in a jar and treat boxes while cupcakes can be personalised. We are selling a mixture of everything.”
Candice has also been able to detect the type of client, adding the feedback has been “brilliant”.
She continued: “We have had birthdays being celebrated at home, family sending things to grandparents who are in isolation and others who may be alone to cheer them up.
“We have also had businesses sending cupcakes to their staff who are to home to perk them up.
“I have also had some sent to hospital staff, probably as a thank you from a patient.
“It’s lovely that even under the current difficult circumstances, people are finding comfort in a cupcake.”Candice, whose mother is a midwife, has also provided some cupcakes free of charge for staff at Tameside and Wythenshawe Hospitals in appreciation of the fabulous work they are doing at this time.
It was back in 2015 that Candice gave up her work for a charity supporting homeless people in Manchester to begin her business full-time. She had previously done it as a sideline.
As business increased, Candice outgrew her home and moved to her studio in November while there was another landmark in January when she employed somebody for the first time.
• Big name clients who have enjoyed Candice’s cupcakes have included Black Eyed Peas/The Voice judge will.i.am, LADBible and the Blue Peter team.