Lucy Norwood set up the bakery business from her Braintree home three years ago, and has now expanded into her own studio.

Little Lucy’s Bakery makes bespoke cakes and cupcakes “for all occasions, including birthdays, weddings, christenings and baby showers.” And demand has meant that Norwood has now grown out of her kitchen, where the business was started three years ago.

She said: “I started this when I was almost 18 and I just didn’t expect anything to come of it, but it just took off.”

The studio was opened on 12 January, and has been given a five-star hygiene rating.

Norwood said of her path into baking: “I did bits in between part time, I used to work for Yelo Taxi and I did some cleaning as well before I started doing this full time.”

I trained to be a chef at the Colchester Institute and I studied professional cookery there for two years but we didn’t do many cakes, I learnt that from my mum and my grandmother, they taught me everything I know.”

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