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Why Paul is hoping for the sweet taste of success

Set the scene. You’re having a night in with family and friends, perhaps watching a film, and you crave something sweet to eat.

No need to head out to the supermarket. Just call Sweet Delivery.

The business, which is about to launch, is the brainchild of chef Paul Sanderson, from Carlisle.

Customers within a 10-mile radius of the city will be able to order individual cakes and sweets for home delivery.

Sweet DeliveryPaul said: “The original idea was the family night in, being able to order cakes in the same way as you might order a Chinese or a curry.

“We think it will appeal to groups of students too.

“It has worked successfully in other places, so why not in Carlisle?”

Customers will be able to phone up or order online, choosing initially from individual cheese cakes and cup cakes, and sweets including flying saucers, cola bottles, frisbies and jelly beans.  “We will also be able to cater to corporate clients by  supplying sweetie favours, client gifts and cake jars,” explained Paul.

The website, www.sweetdelivery.co.uk, is due to go live shortly.

Paul said: “We’re aiming for a soft launch in December and then a full launch early in the New Year.”

Deliveries will be during a three-hour window, between 6pm and 9pm, on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Paul and his wife Vicki moved to Cumbria from Milton Keynes in 2011, shortly before the birth of their first child, to be nearer family.

While in Buckinghamshire, Vicki had run a cake decorating and cup cake venture, so they have experience of the confectionery business.

Paul said: “Vicki has since retrained as a teacher and I became a stay-at-home dad while our children were small.

“The youngest is four and in nursery now, so I wanted to get back to work. The JobCentre told me about the New Enterprise Allowance scheme.

“Everything happened really quickly after that.

“Just after I was accepted onto the scheme, I was offered part-time work as a cook with Enesco at Kingstown, and the two fit together quite well.”

As part of the New Enterprise Allowance package he was allocated an adviser, Annie Weir, from the Chamber’s Cumbria Business Growth Hub.

She enrolled him on our Business Start-up Support programme (BSUS), and he was able to complete a three-day training course for start-ups.

Sweet DeliveryHe said: “Annie was great. She helped draw up the business plan. We had some business knowledge with my wife’s previous business but there is still a lot to learn especially around financial planning.

“The marketing element of the start-up course was very useful, and the payments under the New Enterprise Allowance scheme have been helpful in getting us going, but the biggest benefit is having someone like Annie that you can talk everything through with.”

If you are thinking of starting your own business or social enterprise, then Cumbria Chamber of Commerce and our partners are here to help with a free business start-up programme to point you in the right direction.

Our comprehensive package of support includes:

  • Free meetings with a business adviser to review and develop your business idea;
  • Free training covering business planning and self employment, an introduction to marketing/market research and sales forecasts, promotion and sales, an introduction to planning and managing finance, taxation and bookkeeping, using the internet and social media;
  • Free help to develop your business plan and get your business up and running;
  • Free membership of Cumbria Chamber of Commerce.

The £1.1m Business Start-up Support (BSUS) project is supporting 300 new businesses and 750 individuals to start businesses, creating 300 jobs.

For more information, call us today on 0844 257 84 50 or click here to visit the Cumbria Business Growth Hub web site.

ERDF logoThe funding that supports the Growth Hub comes from a range of sources including Cumbria Chamber of Commerce, the European Regional Development Fund, Allerdale Borough Council (Sellafield Ltd’s Allerdale SIIF, distributed by Allerdale Borough Council), Barrow Borough Council (FEDF Coastal Communities Fund Supply Chain Initiative, the Coastal Communities Fund is funded by the Government with income from the Crown Estates marine assets; it is delivered by the Big Lottery Fund on behalf of UK Government), Carlisle City Council, Eden District Council, South Lakeland District Council and Cumbria LEP. 

The BSUS project is receiving up to £1,112,686 of funding from the England European Regional Development Fund as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020.  The Department for Communities and Local Government is the Managing Authority for European Regional Development Fund. Established by the European Union, the European Regional Development Fund helps local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support innovation, businesses, create jobs and local community regenerations. For more information, click here.

  • Borough of Barrow-in-Furness
  • Carlisle City Council
  • Allerdale Borough Council
  • South Lakeland District Council
  • Eden District Council
  • University of Cumbria