Better baker Jane has her cake and eats it

She had felt tied down by the daily grind of shop life and needed a change. Thankfully, for Worcestershire's cake lovers, Jane's appetite for baking has now driven her back into the kitchen with a new business, Better Bakes.

Look out for her special scarecrow biscuits among her other goodies today and tomorrow at Belbroughton Scarecrow Fayre, near Kidderminster.

BAKER Jane Hennessy has achieved what most of us only dream about - she has her cake and eats it too.

The cake in question is her job creating fantastic traditional iced sponges, cherry slices, delicious tea breads along with flapjacks and a host of other tea-time treats.

And it all started over a cup of tea with her daughter, Joanna, six months ago.

"We were both commiserating on how much we really disliked our jobs. I was working for a supermarket at the time and Joanna was also working for a big store. We both dreaded going to work.

"The supermarket was OK but after being my own boss running my own bakery I found life very different. I suppose I'm not a corporate being, much more an individual. Joanna was as miserable in her job as I was in mine."

It was while they were having their cuppa that the two of them hit upon the idea of going into business.

Jane explains: "I missed the baking side of the business but the shop had been a tie.

"When you're the boss you have to open up every day and I wasn't enjoying that side of it any more.

"I was looking for something that could be more flexible and Joanna came up with the solution - setting up our own catering unit selling wholesale. I would do what I loved best, the baking, and she would do the selling and marketing."

Jane and Joanna found a unit just a mile from their homes in New Road, Kidderminster, and gave notice at their workplaces. Within a month of taking the unit they were baking.

"The unit had been used for catering before but was stripped so we had to go about decorating and re-equipping it. There was a lot to do but the family were great and helped out a lot.

"Early on, it occurred to me that we could also do farmers' markets.

"My father was a farmer and my brother still runs the family farm in Chaddesley Corbett, so I had an idea of what they were about.

"I contacted Worcestershire Farmers' Markets Group to see if it would be possible for Better Bakes to join and it went from there.

"At present we attend Bromsgrove each month, but we've also applied to have a stall at Broadway, and we do other special markets such as the Scarecrow Fayre.

"The farmers' markets are great fun. It doesn't seem like work at all, more of a day out.

"We get all sorts of customers. Young mums with children who simply don't get time to bake and pensioners who want a traditional cake, something that has that home-made taste that you don't get at a supermarket.

"As far as possible we try to buy our ingredients from local producers. We buy our eggs from a local farm and most of our soft fruits locally too."

Jane's baked goodies have proved so popular that they regularly sell out.

"It's not always easy to gauge how much to take to market. If you bake too much and don't sell it then it will be wasted, so we're just finding our way with quantities."

The women have also found that there are spin-offs from attending farmers' markets.

"A woman recently approached us at one of the markets and asked if we would provide a cake stall at an event in Hanbury, which we were more than happy to do. It's all business and we were pleased to be asked."

People may wonder if working so closely with her daughter would put a strain on their relationship.

Not at all, says Jane.

"We work well together. Of course, we sometimes have the odd word, but we never go to bed without sorting it out.

"It's not as if we're on top of each other. Joanna spends much of the time out, either taking samples to potential customers or making deliveries, and I'm back at the unit baking, so it works well."

Within six months the success of Better Bakes has easily surpassed the women's initial hopes for the business. And although they attend farmers' markets, the bulk of their goods are still sold through orders. They're getting a lot of interest from farm shops and garden centres.

"We try to be quite selective. Joanna takes out samples or our goods to local businesses and more than half come back to us to place an order.

"It seems we've found a gap in the market and the business is growing much quicker than we ever imagined.

"I've got 40 sponges to ice tomorrow, just for starters. We're working flat out and it will get busier with Christmas coming up."

Christmas is very much on Jane's mind. She's already planning to add a traditional Christmas cake to her baking repertoire.

"It's going to be made to a good old traditional recipe with a marzipan top and very simple decoration. I would like to do more decoration but I know I just won't have the time.

"I also wanted to make some old fashioned plum puddings but we would have to invest in a special steamer so I've not decided whether we will being doing those this year or not. We'll have to wait and see!"

For more information on Better Bakes telephone 01562 515500.