After losing her job during the pandemic, Gloucester born Noushien Khazeni-Rad used the opportunity to launch The Village Cakery – her own home-baking business – and is now celebrating two flourishing years at her store in Churchdown.
Starting out in July 2020, Noushien had to take care of everything from the marketing and branding to the advertising and baking – offering brownies, blondies, cookie pies, cupcakes, cheesecakes, bespoke occasion cakes and more.
Within three months, she opened the doors to her cake shop in Churchdown village, which soon attracted queues of sweet-toothed fans, who would buy up all her bakes on most days.
In the beginning, Noushien underestimated quite how popular the business would be – ‘It was all very new and I didn’t even hire staff, as I didn’t think it would be that busy. My family came to the rescue and helped out in the shop, whilst I baked like mad to keep up with demand.’
The Village Cakery now has a team of four people, who all live within the Churchdown area. Noushien aims to help the local economy and engage young people who want to gain experience. The staff are given training and opportunities to expand their knowledge and skills – including attending events on behalf of the bakery.
Reflecting on the success of the business, Noushien said: ‘We are all like friends, we know customers’ names and their orders and make a real effort to get to know people.’
‘During Covid, people who lived on their own or just wanted to have a chat would come to the Cakery; it was seen as a sociable place to be and that is my biggest achievement.’
To celebrate its two-year anniversary, The Village Cakery has some exciting plans in the pipeline, which includes further expanding the business. This time, the bakery is adding another behind the scenes kitchen, so the team can make, bake and decorate even more cakes.
For more information, including prices and opening times, visit the-villagecakery.co.uk.
