Member Article

Sweet results for North East business

In the midst of recession one business over the last 12 months has continued to grow and bring smiles to its customers across the region. Now the business is looking to expand its sweet army even more!

Ran by brother and sister team Clare and Paul Laing, Bit-A-Sweet retro sweet shop was the brainchild of the pair, because of their mutual love for all things sweet. They noticed they couldn’t seem to buy their favourite treats from when they were children, and thought they could make a business from that gap in the market.

The family owned Bit-A-Sweet opened its first shop in scenic village of Seahouses in North Northumberland, with the pair investing £25,000 to make their vision and dream come to life, and so it was in March 2012 Bit-A-Sweet opened its doors to the sweet lovers.

Over the first year of business the pair slowly but surely have added more old school sweets to their inventory of delights. This was done from research online, and also by collating feedback and suggestions from customers, who in their own childhood had came across rare sweets, that have since disappeared from main stream stores. They used a trial and error approach to see what was loved and became increasingly popular in store, and now boast a 200 strong selection of all time favourites. The expansion to the business has allowed them to start selling their goodies on-line and their Morpeth shop actually has a warehouse dedicated solely to on-line sales.

Clare and Paul couldn’t have foreseen the success and demand there was for their sweet treats. The store was opened with just one in store member of staff, but it became evident that it simply wasn’t enough. The store now has three members of in-store staff, all there to serve up the sweet delights.

Not wanting to rest on their laurels, the pair quickly found there ideal location for their second Bit-A-Sweet store. In November 2013 and with another investment of £25,000 from Clare and Paul, Bit-A-Sweet Morpeth was opened.

The stores are almost identical as they were keen to replicate the success, identity, brand and character of the first store. With the experience gained from the Seahouses opening and continued success, the store was opened with two in store staff. However over the last year, again because of the demand for the retro sweets and success of the store in the Morpeth area, Clare and Paul have added yet another member of staff to the Bit-A-Sweet team.

Clare and Paul have set their next target for the next 12 months; the pair plan to make an ambitious growth of 30%, but they are aware that they cannot do it by themselves. So for that reason Bit-A-Sweet is creating 10 new jobs across the two locations.

The Bit-A-Sweet brand has gone from strength to strength over the last two years, and because of this, Clare and Paul have also been able to diversify and expand their product offerings to cater for events such as weddings, offering wedding favours, dressed candy carts and buffet’s, as well as sweet centre pieces. They also cater for events such as children’s birthday parties, as well as corporate events. With their personalised party bags, old fashioned fresh pop corn machine and their new candy floss machine, they can literally cater for all occasions with their ever increasing range of sweet ideas.

They will shortly be recruiting for happy, sweet loving staff, who enjoy putting smiles on their customers faces, and who can take Bit-A-Sweet to the next level. The roles they will be recruiting for shortly will be two store managers, a delivery driver, a new member for the admin team, and an area manager. Finally they will have three event co-ordinator roles available to help administer the ever growing website side of the business.

The shops are based at 44 Main Street, Seahouses or at 30 Newgate Street, Morpeth. Both Bit-A-Sweet shops are open 11-7pm daily with the Morpeth shop being closed on a Sunday. Alternatively you can contact the Bit-A-Sweet team by calling 07789 035245

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by JAM Marketing .