BESPOKE cake and patisserie manufacturer La Crème Patisserie has bucked the pandemic trend by opening its first-dedicated retail store.

The family-run business, which has manufacturing facilities in Cwmbran and Neath, has signed a 10-year lease on a 1,200 square foot premises on Llandaff High Street, Cardiff.

The store sell a wide range of high-end cakes, desserts and patisserie to eat in or take away.

La Crème Patisserie was founded in 2005 by the wife-and-husband team Sian and Ian Hindle.

Managing director and head pâtissier Sian previously worked in new product development for Tesco and always dreamed of running her own business.

With husband Ian as financial director, and three of the couple's children in key operational roles, the business initially supplied large commercial customers such as Newport's Celtic Manor, Hampton Court Palace and the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew.

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The company expanded to employ 18 people across its two production facilities before the covid-19 pandemic hit.

As many of the company's biggest customers were in hospitality, the business was faced orders and income drying up overnight.

Sian and Ian took the swift decision to pivot its business model, to offer its high-end patisserie directly to consumers for the first time. Customers responded to this opportunity to purchase treats usually only available at luxury hotels and events in their thousands, first via word of mouth and then via a dedicated e-commerce site.

Sian Hindle said: "After 15 years' hard work building our family business into the UK's leading manufacturer of bespoke high-end patisserie, the pandemic could have been devastating for us.

"We knew we had to move quickly to survive, and it made sense to allow customers to buy directly from us for the first time. What we didn't expect was how incredible the response would be. Initially, we opened our manufacturing facilities so the public could collect orders from us, and the demand for that led to us launching an e-commerce site to sell afternoon tea boxes and other treats.

"The demand for online orders quickly soared, which allowed us to protect our income and many jobs. Having built a successful new business model from scratch in a matter of weeks, we didn't want to let that go. Opening a retail store seemed like the obvious next step, and we hope that our new premises will be the first of many."

La Crème Patisserie has been assisted by the Business Wales Accelerated Growth Programme, which provides targeted support for ambitious growing firms. The programme is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government.

Richard Morris, of the Excelerator Consortium, said: "It's fantastic to see La Crème Patisserie, a real homegrown Welsh success story, opening its first retail store.

"The business has done remarkably well pivoting its business model during the pandemic. We all know that proof is in the pudding and in this case we can all enjoy the experience of their high-quality product. Sian and Ian have a fantastic multi-channel business and are taking an ambitious step onto our high streets."