Students sample sweet success!

22/09/2011

Charlotte and Ana-Maria enjoy their reward!

Sweet-toothed students from the College enjoyed a cake-lover's paradise this week, when they spend the morning touring local bakery and café 'Cupcake Genie' and tasting their culinary creations!

Charlotte O'Hagan, 18, Ana-Maria Tomiciac, 18, Taylor-Rose Lavington, 19 and Nirav Sharma, 18, who all live in Crawley, are studying the Level 3 BTEC Diploma in Business at the Crawley campus. Having successfully pitched their ideas for a London-based cupcake business they called 'Icing on the Cake,' at the College's Enterprise Elevator Pitch event back in July, the group, who were known as 'Team Zeus' during the project, were keen to visit an established business, and the visit to Cupcake Genie was offered to them in recognition of their work.

After meeting with Cupcake Genie's owners, Leigh and Joanne Maynard, the students, who were accompanied by Business Lecturer Claire Nicholls, enjoyed a tour of the shop, based in Crawley town centre. They were able to look at the service area, and point-of-sale display stands, view the kitchen area at the back of the shop where the cupcakes are baked, and even tour the party room and decoration area where groups can book cupcake decorating parties.

Following the tour, the students got the opportunity to sit down and talk business with Leigh and Jo, over a cupcake of their choice. Having signed-up to take a concession in Crawley's County Mall as part of its 'Sweet Fair' on the 1st and 2nd October, along with a number of other local businesses, the students were asked to give their recommendations for promotion, display stands and general presentation. They came up with some interesting suggestions which ranged from handing out flyers and using the Cupcake Genie's Facebook page to promote the event, to dressing up as a cupcake to attract new customers!

Speaking after enjoying a delicious Toffee Fudge cupcake, Taylor-Rose, Team Zeus' Leader, said: "I've really enjoyed the morning! We've been able to go behind the scenes and see first-hand what it takes to run a business in a competitive marketplace. It's great that Leigh and Jo have been so welcoming, and it's nice to think that our business ideas are valued. We'd all like to thank Matt Turner of Creative Pod for setting up this visit - it's been a great prize!"