The Muffin Man’s tasty creations are causing a stir
Darren Somerville tells Catriona Thomson about leaving the office behind to build a business while raising four boys single-handedly, perfecting his cake recipe and never having a shortage of taste testers
Darren Somerville was born and brought up in Glasgow, one of four brothers, "so we had a busy household." After school he went to Reid Kerr college in Paisley, where he trained as a chef for year, but he admits it wasn't his first career choice. "I wanted to fly jets, but academically I wasn't that great so I had to think of something else."
Mr Somerville then went on to have a career in hospitality, working his way up through all departments to become a hotel manager in both England as well as in Scotland. He said: "When you are a manager of a hotel you have to know everyone else's job. So if someone doesn't turn up or a disaster happens then you can step in."
He returned to his Glasgow roots to be closer to his family. After the birth of his first child, Pierre. he explains, "My wife was from France, and she was having difficulty settling in a new country with a baby." His work hours didn't suit a young family so they decided it was time for a complete change of career, and he went to work for his family's firm.
The family business was a packaging company called Somerville and Morrison. He said, "I was one of the rebel ones growing up, I didn't want to go into the family business. The business was needing modernised. Initially I came in to do the quality assurance side then I retrained as an accountant.
"At school, the careers advisor had kept saying ‘you're good at maths, be an accountant’, but I hated maths at school," he laughs, "but I'm actually good at it."
After his parents retired, the business was sold, but he continued to work as an accountant elsewhere. He and his wife then decided to relocate to France to give their now four boys a French upbringing. While the family were living near Carcassonne, the children helped rekindle his love of baking. “The food culture is completely different, we were surrounded by vineyards with fantastic weather. There was fresh produce in the markets, a very different way of living.
“In France at the boys’ school they would ask the parents to contribute a dessert for lunch. Initially I only baked 20 muffins, but because everyone wanted them I ended up doing over a hundred.” Unfortunately, his marriage then broke up. “We were out there for three years, and after a messy divorce in the French courts I got granted sole custody of the kids and I came back to Scotland with four boys.”
Mr Somerville settled in Elie in Fife where his parents were living and the boys fell back into the Scottish
way of life very quickly. He said; "I had always been the clichéd dad that was away out working while their mum was the one who did everything else but all of a sudden I had to do it all, so it was challenging.
"I had to change my approach with the boys, I was the strict dad before but I became very chilled and relaxed, with a handful of rules." Now his eldest, Pierre, is 22, Sean 20, Rémy 17 and Olivier is 12.
After returning to Scotland, Mr Somerville worked as a financial controller, but about a year and a half ago he made the decision to escape the corporate world and become his own boss. He turned his
cake baking hobby into a business and The Muffin Man was born.
He said: "I went to the job centre, there was a scheme called the new enterprise scheme which was to help new businesses which I joined, it is run by Benarty Regeneration Action Group. I ended up getting my kitchen space at their Crosshill site."
He opened a cafe for the other tenants in that building to provide soup, toasties and a cake to kickstart his business, unfortunately lockdown happened, "so there was no point in opening, instead I concentrated on online sales and making muffins for farmers markets."
Benarty Regeneration Action Group, better known as Brag Enterprises, decided to launch “The Pantry Project” to feed locals who had been badly financially affected during lockdown. Many people had been furloughed, or their household income had dropped, so it was difficult for a lot of families to make sure their kids had a meal.
Brag Enterprises asked Mr Somerville if he could help by making ready meals. "It is my way of giving back. It will be sad to have to give that up, but the enterprise scheme is ending and I'm moving to a new premises in St Monans this month."
During the past year and a half, he has grown his business and his brand. “It’s starting to pay off, a lot of people know who I am now, and I have a big following on social media."
Most weekends, he can be found selling muffins at various farmers markets throughout Fife or at Common on the Croft in Leith on Sunday.
As a result of Covid restrictions he only displays a single cake of each type, although that is around 20 different flavours but his full range is available online. All the other muffins are kept safely behind the stall and then boxed up for the customer.
Mr Somerville is constantly busy, baking. "I can make up to a thousand cakes each week for all the different markets I do and I also bake birthday cakes to order." He also bakes for other businesses. "I supply Muffin Man cakes to delis, cafes and tea shops and I brand them with the company's own edible logo."
He plans to keep doing the markets, as well as online orders and deliveries, but looking further ahead who knows, he shall maybe open a cafe or a shop in the future. For the moment he is content to look after his loyal core customers and get more people talking about The Muffin Man.
All in all he is glad he took the risk to start his own business. "I am happy I did it, and it has brought me closer to home and to my kids. I'm no longer jetting around the world so it has definitely been a good move.
"It has been a long hard slog, starting any business involves hard work and long hours, but at the end of the day you are only as good as the last cake you make."
His family are some of his greatest supporters, his youngest son Olivier loves his Rocky Road Muffin, one of his best selling flavours. His eldest son Pierre prefers the Apple Pie Muffin, which he explains, "is very fresh tasting, and full of apples pieces."
Mr Somerville has worked hard to develop his recipe, which he feels is the key ingredient to success. He explains the recipe took many years of perfecting and learning from feedback. “It took a long, long time but we got there."
To get the Muffin Man off to a flying start he worked with focus groups, including the lecturers of Fife college, to select flavours and crucially get the price right.
He said: "There was a lot of work before I actually went out to sell to the public, but I think that has helped with customer satisfaction." That customer response is vitally important to Mr Somerville. I have put lots of smiles on faces, and I love that look of excitement, and people’s reaction when they taste the cakes. It makes it all worthwhile when they post a good recommendation or review on social media."
He describes one lady's reaction, saying “she raved about her rhubarb and custard cupcake. If you read it, it sounded like a romantic novel. She thoroughly enjoyed that cake!"
Being a type-one diabetic, Mr Somerville doesn't get to eat lots of cakes, but he says, "the smells are incredible when you open the boxes." He is pragmatic about his condition. "You can't moan about it, many people live with it so I just have to get on with it. I have plenty of volunteers to taste for me."
He is proud to have made such a big change in his life. "I have accomplished a lot, I have worked hard to build this business. He adds, "I didn't want to be in an office any more."
Mr Somerville is also proud of being a single father and bringing up four boys but he admits, that "it has been a challenging job". He is equally proud of The Muffin Man. "This is something I have done on my own, and now the Muffin Man brand is being talked about so I just need to keep going."