Future looks sweet for cake maker following crowdfunding investment

A YORKSHIRE cake maker is celebrating after attracting £50,000 of funding to put towards new machinery through a peer-to-peer online business lending platform.

Exquisite Handmade Cakes was on the lookout for investment to help buy a fully automated cake cutting machine, which founder Viv Parry says will help the business to generate more sales and tap into new markets.

Ms Parry turned to Leeds-based rebuildingsociety.com, set up by Daniel Rajkumar, after she said her efforts to borrow from the traditional lending route proved futile.

“The (lending) situation is dreadful and potentially crushing for new businesses, which is why I really want to promote rebuildingsociety,” said Ms Parry.

“We have been cocooned by this idea of being risk averse and this funding circle is educating people to consider taking risk again – it’s the only way the economy can move forward.”

Rebuildingsociety.com encourages potential investors and borrowers to register on its website. Lenders can loan from as little as £10 and businesses can borrow a minimum of £2,000 ranging to a maximum of £50,000. However, lenders are being encouraged not to part with more than 5% of their committed capital to any one business.

Launched in 2004, Exquisite Handmade Cakes has now set its sights on generating extra sales by investing in a fully automated cake cutting machine.

The equipment will pre-portion round cakes for businesses such as coffee shops.

“Now we can use the investment to buy this new machinery it will help us to access the pre-portioned cake market. The machinery is not intended to replace people but to create work and potentially new jobs,” Ms Parry said.

The future looks bright for the company, which has a turnover of £1.6m and aims to increase this by 10% in the next year.

The business has just found out it has won a contract with Chelsea Flower Show for the second year running, and has recently secured a deal to supply the book chain Waterstone’s for its new Café W concept.

They join a client list which includes First Hull Trains and the Premier Lounge at Leeds Bradford Airport.

Exquisite Handmade Cakes, which employs 31 people, also supplies through a national network of distributors.

Ms Parry said that although the funding through rebuildingsociety has reached the desired level, the account is still open and further interest is welcomed.

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