One of the Lake District’s most popular confectionary shops is growing rapidly and expanding its offering following enterprise mentoring support.

The Chocolate Cottage, based on Stock Lane in Grasmere, was launched by husband and wife team Richard and Angela Barker. The couple spotted an opportunity for a local confectionary shop specialising in hand-made chocolates and decided to capitalise on the area’s tourism heritage by launching last year.

Starting with their own range of 12 chocolates as well as other branded confectionary, Richard and Angela were keen to see the business grow as much as possible. In order to help them with their expansion plans, the couple sought guidance from a qualified enterprise mentor who could provide sound, impartial feedback on their business plan.

The couple were introduced to Lloyds Banking Group volunteer mentor, Derek Gibbon through the Institute of Enterprise and Entrepreneurs (IOEE) and have been working with him through a series of regular meetings over the past 12 months.

Richard Barker said: “As a young start-up business we are still very much on a learning curve and we knew that we would really benefit from some guidance in order to help us achieve our goals. The idea of an enterprise mentor really appealed to us because we knew we could get a free, impartial third opinion from someone who is very skilled and experienced in their field.

“Working with Derek has been incredibly beneficial as it has meant we have a regular sounding board for all our plans. We can constantly bounce new ideas off him and he is able to give us up-front, honest guidance which enables us to make more informed decisions – plus his background in finance is particularly useful when it comes to our accounting and business planning.”

Since working with Derek, The Chocolate Cottage has grown rapidly, expanding its range of homemade chocolates from 12 to 30 and launching an online presence. Furthermore, Richard and Angela have secured a significant contract with the local tourism board and are preparing to hire two new members of staff early this year.

Furthermore, The Chocolate Cottage was named ‘New Business of the Year’ at the annual Small Firms Enterprise Development Initiative (SFEDI) awards held in October, and were presented with the prestigious accolade at a ceremony held at the House of Lords.

Angela added, “Richard and I would definitely recommend enterprise mentoring for other small businesses. No matter how much experience you have in running your own company, it is always useful to have additional support and guidance and it can make a huge difference to the progress of your business.”

Derek Gibbon, senior manager, Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, said: “Working with businesses and helping them grow has always been one of my biggest passions which is why I first became interested in volunteering as an enterprise mentor. Lloyds Bank played an integral role in the development and launch of the government-backed mentoring scheme for some time now and after seeing many of my colleagues support businesses through the initiative, I was really keen to volunteer myself.

“Richard and Angela are very ambitious and they have some fantastic ideas for The Chocolate Cottage. Helping them shape and refine these ideas, and indeed see them come to fruition, has been incredibly rewarding and just goes to show that true entrepreneurialism is alive and kicking in the UK.”

About the Mentoring Scheme

Mentoring is a vital component of our Helping Britain Prosper Plan. The Business Finance Taskforce (BFT) mentoring initiative was set up by the banks and the British Banking Association (BBA) to help the economy return to sustainable growth by supporting SME. Lloyds Banking Group has more trained Enterprise mentoring volunteers than any other bank. The bank has an exceptional breadth of mentors from across the company - from senior management to specialist finance departments.

More information about Lloyds Banking Group’s mentoring commitment can be found at http://businesshelp.lloydstsbbusiness.com/managing/mentoring/

One of the key commitments within the initiative was to establish a free online portal to help SME find information about mentoring or to source a mentor. Further information can be found on the website www.mentorsme.co.uk

Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking

Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking provides comprehensive expert financial services to businesses of all sizes, from start-ups, through to small businesses, mid-sized businesses and multinational corporations. These corporate clients range from privately-owned firms to FTSE 100 PLCs, multinational corporations and financial institutions.

Maintaining a network of relationship teams across the UK, as well as internationally, Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking delivers the mix of local understanding and global expertise necessary to provide long-term support and advice to its clients.

Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking offers a broad range of finance beyond just term lending and this spans import and export trade finance, structured and asset finance, securitisation facilities and capital market funding. Its product specialists provide bespoke financial services and solutions including tailored cash management, international trade, treasury and risk management services.

Its heritage means it has an unrivalled understanding of business needs and a proven track record of supporting businesses across the sectors and regions. Taking a relationship approach, it provides support to its clients throughout the economic cycle.

http://www.lloydsbank-commercialbanking.com/

The SFEDI Group is the government recognised Sector Skills Organisation for enterprise and business support. Established in 1996. It has earned recognition as the experts in skills and know-how development for small, medium and micro businesses. The group includes SFEDI, SFEDI Awards, SFEDI Solutions and the Institute of Enterprise and Entrepreneurs (IOEE).

The IOEE (www.ioee.co.uk) is the first learning institute dedicated to developing and recognising the skills of enterprising people. It supports enterprise professionals in developing their skills and knowledge to a high standard to provide outstanding enterprise support