AFTER 20 years in management consultancy, Dawn Gigg decided to send her career in a new direction – by making cupcakes for a living.

She said: “Business was difficult and I found myself fighting against people who did not hold the same principles that I did. I thought there must be more to life.”

She had hit 40 and so decided that now was a good time to do something completely different.

“I had always baked and I hit on the idea of cupcakes. I then visited a lot of hotels that held weddings and took samples, and the business grew from there.”

For the first year, Ms Gigg worked from home, but she found the company outgrowing her kitchen and set up The Glorious Bake Shop in Wallingford’s High Street last May.

The shop has not looked back since. She has a coffee shop on one side and a bakery on the other where customers can see the cakes being baked.

All the recipes have been perfected in-house and, while the speciality is cupcakes, Ms Gigg and her three staff can turn their hands to anything, from Victoria sponges to brownies.

There are up to 60 different flavours of cupcake and they change several times a day. Ms Gigg sells up to 400 cakes on a typical day.

While the shop provides the day-to-day business, from the start Ms Gigg has always catered for any type of event, from weddings and parties to corporate hospitality.

Her jam is made by a neighbour, while eggs come from a farm nearby. Coffee for the coffee shop is supplied by Witney-based Caffeica, using a special blend chosen by Ms Gigg, which is also on sale.

Already expansion is on the cards, with another shop planned for Oxfordshire before she steps outside the county, and she believes innovation is the key to prevent the business going stale.

“We listen to our customers and try to stay on top of new trends.

“We don’t try to compete with the chains, it is about my personality and putting a family stamp on the business.”

For details call The Glorious Bake Shop on 01491 826536 or visit thegloriousbakeshop.co.uk