“I had been thinking about investing some money into a business whilst I was working as a social worker for a local authority. As luck would have it, I was told about this new up and coming company called Cake Box. I contacted them and had a great conversation with the directors about the company and the potential in which they felt Cake Box offered. I then attended the opening of the Welling Branch and dragged my fiancé along. Strangely I had a fantastic rapport and connection with Sukh and Pardip. We drank bubbles and talked business for hours.

I tasted the cake and was really surprised how good it tasted. I left feeling uplifted. I was then invited along to a presentation at the Walthamstow branch (they didn’t have a head office back then). I left with all the financial figures and I already knew that I wanted to open a shop in Hayes, Middlesex. My dad already had a mini supermarket and hardware store here and so I just knew this would be the ‘place’. After I discussed it with my dad, mum and fiancé, they all agreed to help me open my own Cake Box.

With blessings and luck on my side my dad agreed to let me have a section of his hardware store and lent me some money. I did not have much back then, but with the love and support of my family and friends and supportive Cake Box Directors I opened my first branch on 9th November 2011. It was not easy to begin with, I kept working a full time job, took on extra hours and watched as the business slowly grew. Hayes is now one of the top five leading branches within the group. I now also own Hounslow West and Feltham Branches.

I am extremely proud of what my husband, our families and I have achieved together. After the birth of my daughter in 2016, my husband and I were able to leave work and have quality time with our daughter. I believe this wouldn’t have been possible if we did not have our businesses. With Cake Box I have never looked back and neither am I finished in my growth.

Nothing can beat becoming a mother but I can safely say I have fulfilled more of my life’s ambitions. I own an extensive champagne collection and 3 of my own businesses. I can now proudly say I did this and then some!”

I have been baking since I was 16 years old when I got my first job as an apprentice in a bakery in Walthamstow. I soon advanced to becoming a bakery manager in East London, by the time I was 21. I learnt all the skills required to run a business from kneading the dough, to sourcing suppliers, to producing business growth forecasts. I knew then that I wanted to run my own business.

8 years after starting as an apprentice, I opened my first bakery in Seven Kings in Essex producing and wholesaling iced cakes to shops who resold them to the public, made to order only, with a lead time of 2 weeks.

I had an opportunity to buy a sandwich bar in Ilford Essex, which I ran for a year before deciding to turn it into a cakeshop. In 2006, I started to expand and by 2010 I had five branches and a small bakery unit in Essex to supply them. The amount of hard work it took to run these shops and the bakery unit started taking a toll on my health as I was working virtually 7 days a week, 15 hours a day leading to 2 failed marriages.

In 2010 I started to notice the Cake Box branches opening everywhere. By 2015, I decided to look into their model as they had opened more branches in a few years than I had managed to in the previous 10 years.

In 2016, I had a meeting with the founders Mr Sukh Ram Chamdal and Mr Pardip Dass. I was quite surprised they agreed to meet with me, as I was potentially a competitor. Following that original meeting, I went to a further presentation and realised that the Cake Box offered me a much better work life balance with all the benefits of being my own boss

We struck a deal to convert all my shops to the Cake Box brand and I have since bought and sold additional branches. Cake Box has allowed me to work ‘normal’ hours. I am now happily married to Ieva, my wife, who joins me in running our branches.