DessertCo – How a Broughshane couples’ kitchen bakery business is booming
A Broughshane couple who started baking from their kitchen at home, have revealed the secret recipe for success, after growing their workforce to 11, with plans to expand to a second premises later this year.
Sean and Lauren Taylor registered their company, DessertCo, in 2019, and after experiencing the loss of Lauren’s mother and Sean’s redundancy from his sales management job, took the plunge to launch the firm in April 2020 by baking up a storm in the kitchen.
And in spite of the challenges and uncertainties of a global pandemic, DessertCo has flourished in the last 12 months, with the shop at Raceview Mill in the village opening in August 2020, and the demand for deliciousness causing the order book to fill to bursting.
Delicious desserts
The couple pride themselves on a mouth-watering range of high quality products, delectable desserts and delicious cakes for all occasions, and their passion and flair for creating something a little different for their customers has earned them a loyal fan base.
Sean credits hard work and long hours with the success of DessertCo to date, and encourages any business which needs that extra ingredient to move to the next step, to avail of the support available through Mid and East Antrim Borough Council.
Through engagement with the Council’s Business Client Manager, Ally McGarry, DessertCo was matched with a specialist mentor on the Business Escalator Plus Programme – which is part funded by Invest Northern Ireland and the European Regional Development Fund under the Investment for Growth & Jobs Northern Ireland (2014-2020) Programme – and the company was able to quickly review their operations and business model to respond to the new working environment and get strategic plans in place to grow and develop.
“The support allowed me to set aside time for strategic planning and growth. I would recommend a chat with one of the Council’s Business Client Managers and support on the programme. Take advantage of the help on offer. The team are top quality at what they do. If people want to grow their business, I would say go onto one of the programmes available through the Council.”
Business Client Managers are able to provide wrap around support by creating connections with other stakeholders and as such, connections were made for DessertCo with Stella Graham, Foodovation Manager at North West Regional College’s Foodovation Centre, who supported them to secure an Invest NI Innovation Voucher valued at £5k to assist them with further product development.
Innovate NI recognised DessertCo as a bronze level innovator, issued the company with a recognition certificate and an “innovator stamp” and as an added bonus, they will continue to provide the company with resources and tools to help companies continue their innovation journey through to commercialisation and value creation.
