Target reached!
You can help this project to raise more and reach its stretch target.
Help us to open Birdhouse Bakery in Sheffield
Sheffield, England, United Kingdom
Aim
Ready...Set...BAKE! We're ready to take 2021 by the cream horns! Help us to convert our space into a city centre sweet bakery!
Who are Birdhouse?
Birdhouse Tea Co began officially in 2012 when Mother & Daughter, Julie & Rebecca, joined forces to create a 100% loose leaf tea company to spread happiness one sip at a time. The tea industry has changed so much over the last 10 years with so much to offer every enthusiast - but back then, it was a challenge (especially in Yorkshire!) to convince a new generation of sippers that tea could be as interesting and delicious as coffee! The duo began with pop up tastings and weekend markets serving freshly baked tea-infused bakes. This was a great way to introduce classic blends to those who were dead set on only drinking cheap teabags. As the tea business began to take off, and moved from the kitchen side into a shop & blending studio, the baking was moved to the side with the focus firmly on creating amazing blends - Birdhouse is now home to over 100 creative blends with fans worldwide. In 2018, the tea bar & kitchen launched in the heart of Sheffield’s cultural industries quarter and has continued to grow and breathe life into the area.
So, what’s next?
Lockdown has been a challenging time for all hospitality businesses, and it’s been so great to see so many independent businesses navigate it by bringing their passions and talent to the forefront. For us, it’s been getting into the kitchen and creating afternoon teas, delicious cakes for the counter with a few custom orders thrown in for good measure. However, when we return to full service, our kitchen is much too small for us to continue creating our bakes in-house with the space prioritised to serving our brunch and lunch menu - and so this is where we so greatly need your help.
The Plan
We have a whole section of the building just waiting to be transformed into a bakery! You’ll be able to walk into the courtyard and wave at me through the window making fresh treats for the counter, free-from goodies and your celebration cakes. Now is the perfect time for us to add this element to our business, and will put us in good stead for surviving the aftermath of such a challenging year - but we are excited and SO up for the challenge.
Our bakery will specialise in proper stacked cakes for the counter. Fluffy sponge cakes, perfectly whipped buttercream and incredible flavours alongside our much loved cookie cups, brownies and more. This space will also allow us to increase our offering of free-from bakes and develop our recipes to provide something for everyone at all times!
The most exciting part of opening this side of the business is that we can finally say YES to all of your requests! We receive so many messages for celebration cakes, and just haven’t had the space to be able to take on those requests. We’ll also have an extensive menu for full vegan and gluten free cakes, with the sky as your limit when it comes to flavour combinations.
Why Pledge?
We hope over the years we have brought joy to you - through tea, online tutorials, workshops…and cake! We’d love to be able to continue bringing you afternoon teas, fulfil all of your custom requests and bring some really great fresh treats to the city centre. We have lined up some awesome rewards, we know you’ll find something perfect for yourself or a little treat for a loved one. We’re also very excited to let you know that if we reach our target, we’ll be able to offer at least one (hopefully two!) apprenticeships in our bakery, giving someone the opportunity to work within our space, be creative and learn our recipes.
What will the money be spent on?
Our estimates are that it will cost us around £12,000 to get the new space up and running and do all the things we want to do. We’re investing as much as possible at this stage, but sadly won’t be able to realise our dream without your help.
The funds will be to buy essential equipment ; work benches, mixers, ovens, cooling racks, flooring, shelving and packaging. We’re asking for you to meet us half way by pledging £6,000 to help get us to where we need to be through some amazing rewards.
If we are lucky enough to beat our target we will have some extra rewards and special thank you gifts for everyone who has pledged. Every pound that you pledge will be invested wisely into a business that, with your help, will be around for many years to come and continue to make Sidney Street a growing part of Sheffield and the Cultural Industries Quarter.
This project successfully funded on 13th April 2021