Northampton woman one day hopes to open bakery and continue ‘bringing the community together’

A Northampton woman one day hopes to scale up her home bakery to somewhere the community can come together as one.

Charlotte Stockwell first set up The 151 Cakes in August 2022 and has spent the last year perfecting her custom buttercream and fondant cakes, cookies, brownies and blondies.

The 30-year-old runs her business from her home in Duston, years on from finding her love of baking cakes for her friends at 18 years old.

She began by baking for birthdays and special occasions as she enjoyed it, before people started asking for her business card and wanted to place an order themselves.

“I didn’t know why I hadn’t already made it into a business,” said Charlotte. “I thought I’d open it up at home and see how it goes, before hopefully moving onto bigger and better things.”

What has taken Charlotte by surprise the most is the positive response from the Northampton community – as The 151 Cakes has far exceeded just family and friends.

She said: “I run it from my house and it’s not just somewhere people can walk past and pop in. But I’ve reached a lot of the local community wanting different orders, even people I’ve never met.”

The most popular of what is on offer is Charlotte’s cookies and miniature cakes, particularly the Victoria Sponge and lemon drizzle flavours.

The business owner’s proudest achievement to date is having the opportunity to collaborate with other independent businesses – namely The Paddock Pantry, a popular horsebox cafe in Harlestone Firs.

Talking about her creations being stocked there, Charlotte said: “It’s absolutely amazing that I can support other independent businesses and stock the community. That’s when I knew I’d taken a step up.”

More collaborations are currently being drawn up between The 151 Cakes and other independents.

Charlotte works a full-time job alongside baking and although she has a lot of late nights and early mornings, she knows it is worth it.

“It’s very chaotic when you’ve got a few orders on the go,” she said. “November and December is the busiest time of year as that’s when everyone is getting together with family and friends.”

One of the biggest challenges for Charlotte has been learning not to take on too much, as she is also planning her wedding in her spare time.

Having once taken on four orders, all to be delivered or collected on the same day, she has learned that some cakes require more time to perfect the intricate details.

The hope for Charlotte is to go full time with her baking, which she outlined in her three-year plan when she first started this venture.

“I want to own my own bakery where people can come and visit,” she said. “I want to host events and themed nights.”

Charlotte’s main aim is to bring the community together, whether that be where she lives in Duston or across the whole of Northampton.

She is proud that her baking already achieves that, as many families order her creations for gatherings or special occasions.

For more information on The 151 Cakes, you can visit the business’ Instagram page here.