Dawn Gigg was growing tired of corporate life.

After 20 years in management consultancy in the human resources sector she needed a new challenge, especially as the recession was putting a dampener on her firm.

She explained: “Business was difficult and I found myself fighting against people who did not hold the same principles that I did. I thought there must be more to life.”

Besides, she had hit 40 and so decided that now was a good time to do something competely different. So she decided to make cupcakes for a living.

“I had always baked and I hit on the idea of cupcakes. I then visited a lot of hotels that held weddings and took samples, and the business grew from there.”

For the first year Ms Gigg worked from home, but she found the company outgrowing her kitchen and took on a shop in Wallingford’s High Street last May. The Glorious Bake Shop has never looked back since.

The premises comprises a coffee shop on one side and a bakery on the other where customers can see the cakes being baked.

All the recipes have been developed and perfected in-house and, while the speciality is cupcakes, Ms Gigg and her three staff can turn their hands to anything, from Victoria sponges to brownies.

There are up to 60 different flavours of cupcake and they change several times a day. Ms Gigg can expect to sell up 400 cakes on a typical day.

While the shop provides the day-to-day business, from the start Ms Gigg has always catered for any type of event, from weddings to parties and corporate events, with customers including Thames Water.

The hours are long and Ms Gigg also receives a lot of help from her family. She has strong principles and insists on using local ingredients where possible. For example, her jam is made by a neighbour, while eggs come from a farm nearby.

Coffee for the coffee shop is supplied by Witney-based Caffeica, using a special blend chosen by Ms Gigg, which is also on sale.

Feedback is important and Ms Gigg uses a visitors’ book where customers can make suggestions, while she also lays on special competitions to keep children occupied.

Already, expansion is on the cards, with another shop planned for Oxfordshire before she steps outside the county, and she believes innovation is the key to prevent the business going stale.

“We listen to our customers and try and stay on top of new trends. We don’t try to compete with the chains, it is about my personality and putting a family stamp on the business.”

Contact: The Glorious Bakeshop, 01491 826536.

Web: www.thegloriousbakeshop.co.uk