Swizzels Matlow, manufacturer of the iconic Love Hearts sweets, has teamed up with a Manchester-based cupcake firm to launch a line of cupcakes decorated with new Mini Love Hearts.

The collection showcases Swizzels Matlow’s new range of mini products: Mini Love Hearts, Mini Double Lollies, Mini Monster Sours, Mini Skulls and Devils and Mini Teeth ‘n’ Toothbrush.

Swizzels Matlow chose Hey Little Cupcake! – which has been shortlisted for the National Cupcake Championships – for its first venture of this kind because it was a local firm, but said it would consider partnerships with larger bakers in the future if the project goes well.

Sarah-Louise Heslop, marketing manager at Swizzels Matlow, said: “This will be the first of many collections to showcase our new products.”

Having a link with such a major brand has boosted sales for Hey Little Cupcake!, which has a shop in Spinningfields in Manchester city centre. It doesn’t have the budget to do big advertising campaigns and the connection has raised its profile, particularly online through social media.

“Teaming up with a bigger firm works perfectly for us,” said Sarah Wilson, director at Hey Little Cupcake!

“We’ve linked up with Swizzels Matlow on Facebook and Twitter and, when we push our followers together, it boosts awareness of our brand instantly. We’ve now got 3,000 followers, while Swizzels Matlow has 15,000. I’ve noticed that we get an influx of new followers when they post a message on their Facebook wall. Because we’re a local firm we’ve found that a lot of our sales are based on the number of followers we have.”