Staff at a family-run sweet and cake decorating business in Nottingham are celebrating 30 years in the trade. Originally started by Paul and Catherine Brown on Aspley Lane, Sweet Success later moved to its current base in Gauntley Court on Radford Road, between Hyson Green and Basford.
Inside the shop, you’ll find rows of cake decorating accessories and ready-to-decorate cakes. Whilst you can’t buy cakes that are already decorated from the shop, people find joy in buying ready-made sponge cakes and cupcakes to decorate themselves.In 2022, Sweet Success sold a quarter of a million cupcakes and 50,000 large cakes. As many businesses struggled during lockdown one thing many people picked up was baking.
Liana Stevens, sales and marketing coordinator for the company, says: “Rustic-looking cakes are popular for weddings now too that use the old royal icing look, trends do come back around.” Rebecca says: “Lockdown was bizarre, all parties were cancelled and the wedding industry was hit really hard but we were very lucky because our customers were still really resourceful. Even though you couldn’t see your mum for her birthday, you might want to send her cupcakes instead. In the pandemic, we sold yeast and bread flour too which were products we hadn’t sold before.