ISSUE 6 JANUARY 2013
The Cake Decorating Company - Best Retailer Award 2012 The Cake Decorating Company are innovators in cake decorating and chocolate making supplies. We source unique and contemporary products from all around the world and are UK Distributors of many, such as Dinkydoodle Airbrush and paints, The Mat, SugarVeil and Silicone Plastique. We are also one of the leading providers of bespoke edible imagery. On our website you can browse over 6,000 items, keep up to date with all the latest products and buy from our online shop. We also run a wide range of affordable courses that are suitable for all skill levels in a friendly, relaxed atmosphere with award winning teachers. North Star Cakes - Novelty Cake Award 2012 I trained as a painter and sculptor and studied fine art and art history at university before working for a private collector and then two of the largest fine art auctioneers in the world based in London. Leaving the art world in 2006 to start a family I was a stay at home mum until October 2011 when North Star Cakes began trading. I am based in Maidstone, Kent and I make bespoke cakes, I am often asked to make cakes based on the natural world but I also like to make pretty cakes, and I adore making sugar flowers. Having been trading for only 9 months when the snake cake created as much interest as it did I was completely overwhelmed and surprised by the reaction it got, I could never have anticipated that anyone outside of my local town would ever hear my name and it was a bit of a roller coaster ride, however the interest in the cake has presented so many opportunities that never would have materialised otherwise, and for that I will always be very grateful. When I won the Cake Masters Novelty Cake Award in December 2012 it was a complete surprise, I was obviously delighted to have won and I'm very thankfull for all the support I've had from Rosie and the Cake Masters team in my first year. I would like to thank my husband and children for being chief tasters at North Star Cakes, and for putting up with my cake obsessed nature, questionable taste in music and long working hours. I would like thank all the cake community for their support, for visiting my page and for leaving comments, I have admired so many of you. I would also like to say an extra big thank you to Lesley Wright at the Royal Bakery, Jacqueline Butler of PetalSweet and Peggy at Peggy Does Cake for kindly sharing their knowledge and supporting me early on; thank you to Anabelle, Joanna & Rob at Confection Perfection in Maidstone, Kent, for their brilliant sugar flower course and well stocked shop not to mention great advice. Thank you to Lara at the Kent Family Magazine who believed in me and gave me my first editorial; and thank you to my friends and design team Ramona & Eugen Hanusch who were prepared to work in exchange for cake when I first started; and lastly a special thank you to my cake idols Peggy Porschen and Duff Goldman for inspiring
We will also be at the Cake International shows at Manchester, London and Birmingham as well as the Cake and Bake shows in Manchester and London, please feel free to pop by our stands and say hello. We were all over the moon at winning the award for Best Retailer from Cake Masters. It was an honour to be considered and an even greater honour to win. We feel very proud of our achievement as it means that we are fulfilling our goal in striving to be the best. We would like to thank all of our loyal customers, without their support we wouldn't be where we are now. Their feedback is always welcomed, be it good or bad. Constructive criticism allows us to improve our service and give the customers what they want. We would also like to thank Cake Masters for their support and having the faith in our company to nominate us. Lastly, we would like to all of our staff for all of their continued hard work and dedication. (Below - Gemma with our fantastic award!)
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