Latest news from Wiltshire Rural Hubs
Mother and daughter duo Emma Parry and Louisa Pinkham have just celebrated four years of creating and running their own community-focussed bakery and farm shop at Downton in Wiltshire.
The pair started their business, Stable & Wick, from the kitchen table in 2020 when Louisa had to give up her previous business in events to move back home. Like many, Louisa’s sector had been decimated overnight by the pandemic and she had to change her life.
She said: “It hadn’t ever occurred to me that I’d be in my 30s, running my own business and it would be shut down overnight and I’d have no option but to move back to live with my parents Emma and Bryn. Yet many of us were in that position.”
Once at home, Louisa, now 37, and her mum decided to embrace home baking with a vengeance.
Emma, now 65, said: “I’ve always loved baking and Louisa has inherited that love too. We thought that it might be a lovely thing to do for people locally to be able to easily access good bread and brownies from their doorstep. In our village we have a small shop and larger supermarkets are several miles away so we thought it might be popular.”
The pair shared some information in a local social media group and sold out within hours. The orders kept coming in for bread and Emma’s now-famous cinnamon buns until the pair were cooking all hours to fulfil demand. It became clear that a kitchen table with one oven would not be enough if they were to continue.
Louisa said: “We didn’t have a business plan, we simply reacted to the extraordinary situation we were all in and the community supported us. By the early spring we’d run out of space and we had to consider if this business had ‘legs’. For me, it didn’t look like the events sector would be on its feet any time soon.”
The pair talked to local farmer Will Dickson, and he embraced the idea, attracted by the possibility of diversifying services on his working farm. He offered them a derelict disused barn and, after searching for fridges and ovens, the doors opened in the autumn of 2020.
“On that first day we did worry that no one would actually turn up,” Louisa said. “However soon there was a queue down the lane for people wanting to buy their bread, cheese and milk from us.”
The couple have been supported by the team at Wiltshire Rural Hubs, which runs free online workshops aimed at supporting rural businesses, social enterprises, and community projects across areas covered by Wiltshire Council. These sessions provide knowledge and support to those thinking of starting a business. for those having just started an enterprise and for those more established and looking to grow.
“This resource has been so valuable for us, even though I have run my own agency before. This type of business is not the same and a different set of skills are required,” Louisa said.
“We now realise we do need to plan ahead to move the business forward and having someone experienced in business to cast fresh eyes on us has been extremely valuable.”
Louisa and Emma are now raising funds to expand their offering, to buy new seating and equipment for the premises. They will then apply for a grant to help with some of those costs. They are already welcoming community groups to the space – including a crochet club – and wish to become a social hub for locals.
“When we first began baking back in 2020 and offering our food for sale, we never dreamed that we would be running our own micro bakery and farm shop just four years on. We are so grateful to our community for supporting us and also for the Wiltshire Rural Hubs project for helping us move forward,” Louisa said.
The Wiltshire Rural Hubs team hold virtual support sessions for businesses based in rural areas in the Wiltshire Council area on a regular basis. The first sessions of 2025 take place on Tuesday January 14, January 21 and January 28 between 10am and noon.
These workshops are part of the Rural Hubs Grants programme, funded by Wiltshire Council and the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Delivered in partnership with the University of Bath, The Future Smiths, and TechSPARK, the programme aims to strengthen rural ventures and enhance their role in local communities. For further information and to secure your place in January, visit https://www.wiltshireruralhubs.co.uk.
Article from Scott Media
