Why not? Owning a cake business has been a dream for Jen and myself for a few years. I was waiting to retire from nursing after 35 years and Jen, while waiting for me to retire, was working in the hospitality industry, initially as a barista then moving into event organisation and management in order to gain experience.
In October 2021 retirement finally came, but by that point COVID had hit, and I stayed for a few more months while we looked for premises. After a long search we found the perfect spot on Newgate Street, Morpeth and on 2nd June 2021 we were given the keys to our shop! Now the work could begin to turn a clothes shop into a coffee shop with a working kitchen where we would be able to bake for the shop and create wedding and celebration cakes.
The main upheaval and improvements were undertaken by my husband and brother, the plumbing and electricity by friends in the industries, and finally the decorating by Jen, myself and my family. We managed, in the next 3 months, to get the shop in shape and ready to open. It has been a huge learning curve but we are proud of what we have accomplished in the creation and design of Made of Crumbs.
We opened our doors on the 31st August 2021 and the reception we received from people was so encouraging. Within a month we needed another person who would help to run the coffee shop. This would be Chris, my son (It truly is a family run business!). Chris has worked in this industry for 15 years and has entered several barista competitions with success (even making it onto Look North news when he was much younger), and makes a fantastic cup of coffee. Come and see for yourself. If you want to know anything about coffee then he is the one to speak to. He is a true coffee geek and has a solid working knowledge of speciality tea from his time with Pumphrey's, and working with companies such as Ringtons and Estate Teas.
We hope in the future we can hold coffee and tea tasting evenings so others can experience the wonders of different kinds of tea and coffee.
Next, we introduced Coban and Dora. Saturdays got so busy that we had to employ more help. We only planned to hire one person, but they were both so good on their trial shifts we asked them both to stay! Now Dora works on a Tuesday and Saturday, where she helps bake and work the coffee machine, and Coban works on a Thursday, running the café allowing Jen and myself to work in the kitchen. They are both fantastic additions to our team and we hope they will stay for a long time.
We've loved these past 8 months, and we look forward to continuing to serve you all the best cake, coffee, and tea we possibly can, from some of the best local suppliers.
Cake is our love. Cake is what we want to bring to you.
Cake is why we are here.