Whoopie Bakery is just one of lots of businesses in Hull receiving grants and support from Hull City Council.

Kate Cunnah, from Whoopie Bakery, spoke about how they have used grants to develop and grow their business:

“We sell cakes that are made of sponge. They’re a 100 year old dessert tradition from the US and have either a cheesecake or marshmallow filling and we’ve been running for a year now.

“We use the skills funding to fund a professional food photography course in London with a photographer called Kimberly Espinel. She’s an
absolutely fantastic food photographer with real flair.

“We wanted to elevate our website, social media, digital and print media with fantastic food photography that stood out.

“It’s so important. It’s such a key part of why customers choose to click on your advert or your website rather than somebody else’s, and we really recognise that need.

“I had already been doing photography for and I had the equipment, but I just wasn’t quite getting the food photography that I wanted to get that I felt was suited to the business and where we wanted to take it.

“The funding enabled us to undertake that training and really elevate what we’re doing. We got the UK shared Prosperity funding to support the purchase of equipment and marketing and design provisions.

“We’ve purchased a piece of equipment called a depositor. That will really help us to improve our workflow, increase our capacity and be ahead of ourselves as well.

“It’s there to support growth at a time when small businesses might find it difficult to have capital upfront. Cash flow is always a challenge and especially in the current climate it’s a real challenge to just have the money in the bank to do these kinds of things.

“As a new business, credit isn’t always easy to access and when it is accessible, it’s expensive.

So having access to this funding has enabled us to buy top quality equipment that will future proof the business.”