Alison Hazell

When we first took it over, it was running mainly over the weekends. This worked for me to start with, I had a large family and other work commitments throughout the week, the idea of a busy weekend business suited me well with my lifestyle. It began with my daughter and I running it, then once my youngest, who is now 10, started nursery, it freed up more time to look at other possibilities for the business. One of the ideas we had was to start working with schools. I had some background teaching experience and the idea of getting children involved in workshops at the chocolate factory really excited us. After speaking to schools and parents it quickly became apparent that this was an idea with a future. We started to get enquiries from a variety of different schools and parents in the area and it quickly became necessary to take our weekend business to the next level. We opened our beautiful chocolate factory throughout the week. The kitchen became a hub of excitement, everyone loves chocolate! Especially when they learn the detailed process of how it’s created and all the different types of chocolate there are. It also teaches children a really important life skill, working in a kitchen.

We quickly took on extra staff, firstly on a part time basis and then full time. Our wonderful team now comprises 3 full time members, 3 part time with a 4th starting full time in 2020. We also enjoy having students come and do their work experience here with us.

Chocolate has become our lives! I mean, who doesn’t like chocolate? I haven’t met many people who say they don’t! I love to eat it every day, which is easily done when you run a chocolate making business! People ask me if running a chocolate factory has put me off eating it – that certainly hasn’t happened so far and with many different types of chocolate to choose from I don’t think that is going to happen any time soon! We even now have a sugar free version!

Although I didn’t officially start the business from scratch, I am incredibly proud of our team and my family for what we have grown the business into today. It’s hard work, but very rewarding, there isn’t much time for sitting down or taking leisurely lunch breaks, as most of our time is spent in the kitchen, planning our next workshop or corporate event. Our long-term plan is to have other kitchens in other towns so we can branch out to more areas. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have other working mini chocolate factories!? We have our eyes on a few possible sites so watch this space!

We are very sociable here, so it’s fantastic having so many different people come in and see us. We often have groups of 20 children in the kitchen at any one time and by the end of our two-hour session I know each and every one of them. When the children take their first peak at the chocolate they have created, I love the look on their faces – it’s a great sense of achievement. The children are always very proud of the array of chocolate delights they have made and when they leave at the end of their session, they normally gift their chocolate to a parent, grandparent or sometimes lucky siblings! It makes all the collective hard work so worthwhile! The proud look of their parents is something else too… I wouldn’t change what I do for anything and we are already opening our doors to exciting networking events, more corporate events, workshops and other innovative ideas! Come and see us and find out more about the wonderful work of chocolate.”