A 19-year-old with a passion for cakes is on the rise - and set to open her own shop in the heart of a town.
Morgan Lewis, owner of Bakeaholics, said the last year had been a “whirlwind” after her small business took off during lockdown.
With more than 13,000 followers on her Instagram account, Ms Lewis’ decadent cakes and sweet treats have been in huge demand as she has spent the last year baking in a purpose-built kitchen from her garage, in Attleborough.
But as her business continues to grow, the young baker has taken the plunge to open her very own “Instagrammable cake shop” on Queens Square in the town centre.
She said: “I started my Instagram page in June 2019 when I finished school, but it was only really a hobby.
“By January in 2020 I had about 800 followers and I was doing four to five markets a week in West Suffolk. I would stand in the cold and sell a couple of brownies and I would come back feeling so disheartened.
“I would be lucky to take £40.
“But in March when lockdown came everything got cancelled, so I said to my parents 'let's just do a delivery service'.
“From there it really picked up, through word of mouth and people tagging us in their photos, we were selling out.”
After starting a pop-up stall in the car park of Morley Village Hall, around June last year, Ms Lewis realised how popular she had become as cake-lovers queued for hours.
But due to Covid regulations and the amount of people the stall was attracting, Ms Lewis said they had to stop during the second lockdown in November.
In January the self-taught baker decided that Bakeaholics needed a bigger and more permanent base.
With work currently under way, Ms Lewis hoped to officially open her shop on Easter weekend with a takeaway service.
She added: “It's absolutely bonkers. This time last year I thought I would have to go to uni and get a job.
"But now this is my full-time job. It was always my dream to have a pretty, pink 'Instagrammable' cake shop, with a flower wall.
“I’m excited but also scared because I am only 19. But I’m lucky I have my parents behind me, who have helped me along the way.”
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