ONE of the Lake District’s most popular confectionary shops is growing rapidly and expanding its offering following enterprise mentoring support.

The Chocolate Cottage, based on Stock Lane in Grasmere, was launched by husband and wife team Richard and Angela Barker.

The couple spotted an opportunity for a local confectionary shop specialising in hand-made chocolates and decided to capitalise on the area’s tourism heritage by launching last year.

Starting with their own range of 12 chocolates as well as other branded confectionary, Richard and Angela were keen to see the business grow as much as possible.

In order to help them with their expansion plans, the couple sought guidance from a qualified enterprise mentor who could provide sound, impartial feedback on their business plan.

The couple were introduced to Lloyds Banking Group volunteer mentor Derek Gibbon, through the Institute of Enterprise and Entrepreneurs (IOEE), and have been working with him through a series of regular meetings over the past 12 months.

Richard said: “As a young start-up business we are still very much on a learning curve and we knew that we would really benefit from some guidance in order to help us achieve our goals.

“Working with Derek has been incredibly beneficial as it has meant we have a regular sounding board for all our plans. We can constantly bounce new ideas off him and he is able to give us up-front, honest guidance which enables us to make more informed decisions."

Since working with Derek, The Chocolate Cottage has grown rapidly, expanding its range of homemade chocolates from 12 to 30 and launching an online presence.

The Chocolate Cottage was named ‘New Business of the Year’ at the annual Small Firms Enterprise Development Initiative (SFEDI) awards held in October, and was presented with the prestigious accolade at a ceremony held at the House of Lords.