‘We need to keep the economy going’
Nina Kamal, 35, lives in Cambridgeshire, with her husband Khaled, 38, and their two children. Putting the finishing touches on a pristine five-tiered wedding cake, I felt so proud of my creation. It was July 2019, and my husband and I owned a luxury cake-design business. I’d always adored weddings and I was passionate about every last detail on my elegant one-of-a-kind cakes.
INTERNATIONAL ORDERS
I’d built the business from scratch in 2014 and, after five years, I was even taking international orders, with this one being delivered to Italy.
I was excited about expanding the business – but then the pandemic hit.
Weddings were our number-one source of income, and in March 2020, with the country in lockdown, international borders closed and weddings postponed, my business took a nosedive.
I managed to avoid catching the virus, but for a full year we had no bookings, and as Khaled and I were self-employed, much of the Government’s financial support was not applicable to us.
It was tough, and even though I was grateful to stay healthy in the midst of a pandemic, as a mum to two young boys, then nine and seven, I had to find ways to keep money coming in. Thankfully, we eventually secured a small grant, and baking artisan brownies to be delivered locally and via post helped us to keep afloat.
From May 2021, weddings in England were permitted with limited numbers, and by July 2021, all restrictions were lifted. It meant we could finally take bookings again and we slowly began to build our figures back up.
BACK ON TARGET
Now, business is doing well and we are almost achieving targets we’d set PRE-COVID-19. Lockdown was a devastating blow, and we simply can’t afford for that to happen again – we need to get back to normal. We do need to learn to live with COVID-19, as introducing further restrictions could be devastating for businesses, but as long as we are mindful of other people’s concerns, I think we can move forward.
With the cost of living rising, we need to keep the economy going. ✣For more information about Nina’s cake designs, visit erzuliecakes.com