Home baker shuts cake shed over 'ridiculous' rules

A home baker has said she has closed her cake shed because council rules could cost her hundreds of pounds to get a street trading licence.

Natalie Brook, 37, has sold cakes from her garden in Rhodesia, in Nottinghamshire, since January.

But recently, cake shed owners have said they have been told by Bassetlaw District Council they needed a licence, costing £1,007, or they could face a £1,000 fine.

The council said it had decided people selling cakes in this way fell under its street trading policy, and while it was aimed mostly at bigger businesses, it could not make exceptions.

But for Natalie, who has been baking cakes on the weekend, the cost of a licence means it is no longer worth opening.

She said she was not directly contacted by the council - believing she may have missed a visit from officers - but had been informed by other cake shed owners in the area.

"It feels like a lot," she added. "I understand that other businesses have to pay these licences for burger vans or whatever, but they're on actual streets. This is in my garden.

"We are not serving hundreds of people. I could understand if it was a lower amount, but £1,007 to sell a few cakes at the weekend, just seems ridiculous."

Natalie said she would have to sell about 500 cakes to pay for the licence for the cake shed and start to make a profit.

Instead, she will now trial offering a pre-order service from her house, where customers can place an order to collect at the weekend, but she remains unconvinced.

"I find it bizarre I can sell from my front door, but not from my shed, which is less than a metre away from my front door," she added.

"People can afford a couple of pounds on a cake, and if that is what they're using for a little treat during a cost-of-living crisis, then that's amazing, and I want to be a part of that.

"It makes me sad that the council is trying to take that away."

Sally Bruce, 49, has been running a cake shed from her home in Carlton in Lindrick, in Nottinghamshire, for about a year, where her "cookie pies" are particularly popular.

She said she was assured by the council she did not need a licence when she opened, and she had paid for other requirements like a DBS check and commercial waste management.

But said she had a visit from an enforcement officer last Friday, who told her she would have to stop trading from her cake shed immediately and apply for a licence.

This is her full-time job, and she said it was likely she would apply for a licence to be able to stay open.

She accepted, particularly for those like her doing it as a full-time job, they should pay something to the council, but felt the amount was "excessive".

"A fair compromise would be something a bit more tailored to what we actually do and what we offer," she said.

"A lot of it seems redundant for us, and we're just ticking a box that costs a lot of money.

"And the general feel from 'cake shedders' that I'm in touch with... most of them are just going to have to shut.

"I just don't think they can take the cost of it, which is a shame, because it is a lovely thing."

The council said it had consulted on and considered its street trading policy over the last two years.

It added its licensing committee had agreed cake sheds should be covered by it, because of the food safety and hygiene implications, monitoring, potential annoyance to neighbours and to be fair to existing traders.

It added cheaper six-month licences, or trading at fairs, were alternative options, and the fees were reduced after the first year.

A spokesperson said: "It is important to note that there can be a large variation in the scale of 'cake sheds', which can range from simple tables with honesty boxes, to larger operations that sell pre-packaged goods, advertise on social media and accept contactless card payments.

"While the main scope of the policy is directed at larger businesses who wish to trade from a fixed location, there are currently no concessions that can be applied to residents who wish to sell baked goods though 'cake sheds'.

"Our licensing team has been instructed to take a proportionate and pragmatic approach to enforcement based on the individual circumstances.

"Any fines would only result from a successful prosecution in the most serious cases, where a trader has persistently sold goods without a licence."

But it is the uncertainty about the scope of the rules that leaves sellers like Natalie worried.

"It really isn't worth taking the risk," she said.

"Everything's so uncertain. It's so unfair to be treated as a large business when we're selling a few brownies."