Bakery calls for help in ‘one last shot’ at survival
ABAKERY has appealed to customers to help it stay open amid rising electricity bills and food costs.
Owners of Dottie’s Pantry in Heywood have said that they want to ‘give it one last shot’, but asked their customers for support.
The business was founded in 2015 by Keeley Simpson and Carly Savery, who began selling homemade cakes out of a converted kitchen in Keeley’s basement.
Since then, they’ve had stalls at various markets before settling on Manchester Street in Heywood, where they offer a range of coffees and cakes alongside breakfast and lunch.
However, after a difficult 18 months which has seen the business grapple with the rising costs associated with the cost-ofliving crisis, including soaring energy bills and the doubling in price of essential ingredients, they say they’re looking at adapting the business to ensure that they can stay open and have asked customers for their feedback.
In a post shared to their social media channels, Keeley and Carly wrote they were looking at changing their opening hours, reducing some of cakes they make and starting up their baking classes again.
They also said they were determined to make it work and keep the business going.
The update shared to Instagram and Facebook read: “Here at Dottie’s we have been working tirelessly on keeping the shop open. I’m sure you have all been hit with the current climate and rising costs of everything from bills to food & all the things in between.
“Over the late year we have adapted the shop and it’s gone from just the coffee & sweet treats to serving up breakfast, lunch & cake. Making sure we still keep to our ethos of only using the best ingredients & produce for you lovely lot.
“Once again our bills have risen... we got an electricity bill for December which was £1,400 (the week before Christmas which nearly sent us over the edge) So many businesses are having to close their doors because they simply can’t afford to carry on. We took some time over Christmas to have a think of what we are going to do & are determined to give it one last shot but WE NEED YOUR HELP.”
They went on to thank their customers for their ongoing support, for which they said they were ‘so grateful’. “We know everyone is feeling the pinch and that cake is a luxury,” they wrote.
In terms of adapting the business to ensure it was future proof, they added: “We are looking at changing the hours of the shop... opening Monday-friday with less sweet treats but more savoury & then once a month having a pop up in the shop on a Saturday where we will be serving up just sweet treats & coffee.
“This will also mean we will have time to start up our baking classes again (we know a lot of you have enquired & we have had to say no due to lack of time) but we loved doing them and want to bring them back. We want to know what you lovely lot think of this idea and if you would be happy with this.”
The bakery’s followers were quick to comment on the heartfelt post with many reiterating their support for the business, and others suggesting other ways they could keep the business going.
One wrote: “You’ve got this ladies and are so so so well loved!! EASILY the best savoury and sweet treats around.”
Another added: “You have a lovely shop and I do hope you manage to stay open. The baking classes sound great and they would make a great gift for both children and adults. Good luck to you both.”
Co-owner Carly said she was really pleased with the feedback and explained that despite the issues facing businesses like theirs the were grateful for all the suggestions and support from their customers.
Explaining a bit about how they came to be, she said: “We started off just doing cakes, my business partner Keeley converted her kitchen in her basement into a kitchen for us to work in and then we moved to Heywood Market where we sold cakes.
“During Covid we went back to working at Keeley’s and it was just cake and deliveries, we were doing ok really because it was a treat for people while they weren’t able to go out.
“Over the past 18
months prices have gone up so we introduced things like bagels and pies and then Primark got in touch so we’ve been working up but because prices keep going up we’ve said it’s not really worth it and we’ll do less corporate.
“We haven’t taken a proper wage for the past six months so that we can pay staff and do our best to stay open.”
Carly explained that the price for basic ingredients needed for the cakes, such as butter and eggs has risen sharply over the past four years, making it untenable to make as much stock.
She said: “The price of buying our stock has gone up 40% and because it’s food we can’t claim anything back so it’s all just been a bit crazy really. It’s why we’ve looked at stopping working on a Saturday because the bill we got just before Christmas was £1400 just for electricity for December. I couldn’t believe it and thought well there goes
our December wage.”
In terms of suggestions and help from the community so far, Carly says a lot of people are opening to them changing the business, but pricing has proved an issue. “We’ve had lots of nice comments and we have very good customers - some come from far and wide to visit us.”
In terms of other support, the pair have also reached out to their local MP to raise their concerns spoken and were told a development agency would be in contact with them.
“We’ve spoken the Member of Parliament for Heywood & Middleton Chris Clarkson and he’s been really helpful and said he’s going to do all he can to take the matter further and aims to bring it up in Parliament.
“We thought about closing just before Christmas but we decided to give it one more push and we’ll give it a few months to see if changes.”