Prestwich baker overcomes adversity with help of customers

Olivia O’Connor has taken on a career change, Brexit, a pandemic, a cost-of-living crisis, a national shortage of cupcake boxes and owning a small business in the space of a few years.

Utilising her cookery skills, Olivia is making a name for herself in the Prestwich area for her cupcakes and sell-out stuffed cookies at her shop, Liv's Cupcakes on Bury Old Road.

Olivia, 23, said: “This was never in the plan, I was just doing it on the side here and there for friends and family.

Liv's Cupcakes in Prestwich

“I was 20 at the time and working an office job that I was getting very bored of, so I just thought, I’m young, if I give it a go now and it doesn’t work out I won’t have lost too much.

“Looking back now, I couldn’t see myself doing anything else differently.”

After using a Virgin business start-up scheme, Olivia signed her paperwork to get the shop just before the first Covid lockdown hit in March 2020.

She said: “Lockdown wasn’t part of the plan but I had signed everything already, so I had to make it work.

"We did a lot of deliveries but because we are so near to the motorway, it made it easier because we have customers all over Prestwich, Salford, and Bolton.

“I wanted to open up a seating area inside but that wasn’t possible due to Covid, but it worked out in the end because it’s just me in here and I would have been too busy for it.”

Praising her customers, as another walked through the shop door, it is clear that Olivia has a lot of fans, whom she believes have made all of this possible for her.

After the pandemic a new crisis affecting businesses has emerged though.

She said: “I thought after Covid that this would be it and it would finally be our year...then came the cost of living crisis.

“Because of Covid and the new crisis, I haven’t been able to get permanent help so I do pretty much everything myself.

“I’m concerned but trying to be positive, there is only so much that you can pass on the costs, so we had a slight price increase as a result.

“I spent a full month panicking about how it would go down because I have never done that before but people were so kind and understanding, some even told me to raise it higher.

“That’s why I am so grateful for my customers and to still be going, especially from the way I started.

“We’re not going into great times, so I just hope some help comes soon, not just for me and my business but for everyone.”

Aware of the challenges that lie ahead, Olivia is hopeful that with Christmas coming closer, business will continue to thrive.

One final challenge faced by Olivia, and arguable the most unpredictable, is a shortage of cake boxes.

Liv's Cupcakes in Prestwich

She said: “Brexit has made it a lot harder to get hold off certain flavours, spreads…and cake boxes.

“It really does make a difference on businesses how hard it is to get a hold of certain items.

“It is so daft, we were having to order around 200 to 300 at a time because they had been going out of stock for months and then there are also limits on how much you could buy.”

Having just finished decorating the shop, Olivia, has shown off her DIY skills, adding a feature "sprinkle" wall, flower bench and mirrors to brighten the shop up.

Despite the challenges, Olivia remains positive and hopeful that her decision to switch from office to apron was the right one.

Liv's Cupcakes in Prestwich