Spring in the step

So ... we have been here before, through the other side of injury, but this time we are hoping bad things don't come in three's and we can move forward with a spring in our step as Cathryn is now back on two feet. Despite these interruptions, the bakery is still growing and we are looking forward to expanding this year.

It's a balancing game at the moment though, even without the previous bad luck. There's the desire to fulfill every order, respond to new opportunities and dream up others. Howevever, there is also the need to balance home life and of course the need to sleep. We reluctantly have to turn some business away, otherwise this balance can't always be met. We want to look after our loyal customers and continue to supply existing outlets. We hope in time we can supply everyone that has asked, but at the moment we are growing things slowly and steadily with limits set by a busy household and an accident prone wife.

We still continue to sell our produce outside our home, the honesty box works incredibly well and it's great catching some customers and learning about how they found us, favorite recipes and what a bakery on the doorstep means to them.

We also now have some places which stock Keeley House products;

• Wootton Post Office and Village Shop

• The Swan, Cranfield

• Wootton Lower School - Bedford Road and Fields Road sites ( For the teachers and staff )

• Marston Vale School ( again for teachers and staff )

• ... ...and coming soon.... RGR garage, Cranfield

We have lots of events coming up which is very exciting too...

• Marston Vale Farmers Market every month. ( Next one Sunday 17th April)

• Monthly coffee mornings at Cranfield Village Hall

• Marston Moretaine Craft Fair on the 30th April;

• May Day Fair in aid of Willen Hospice on 2nd May ( New Bradwell Sports Association)

• The May Fayre at Wootton Lower School on the 21st May

• Fun Day at St John's School on 2nd July

• Wootton Fun Day on 9th July

Finally, we have also completed our first customer survey and were grateful for the feedback.

Thanks to everyone who completed it, the highlights are;

• Favourite items:

1st Place = Billionaires shortbread,

2nd place = Caramelised onion breads

3rd place = Our cakes,

Close runners up were cheese breads, scones and sun-bdried tomato breads.

However... the survey was before the sale of our sticky chocolate brownie - me thinks that will be the winner next time we survey!!

• What you want:

35% said they would like to see us providing our specialist breads daily

• Your experience:

Nearly 59% of you said you felt we were very organized with 29% saying extremely organized - for those of you who know Andrew well you will understand what an achievement this is!

We were pleased to hear that most of you found it easy to contact us and 70% saying they would be extremely likely to reorder from us

If you would still like to give us some feedback please follow this link:

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/CQDQBZ5

Looking forward to spring, stay in touch with any new ideas.

Cathryn and Andrew