A Fylde Coast businesswoman whose medical condition led her to create her own range of bakery products is celebrating opening her new business in Lytham St Annes

Susan Craddock’s coeliac condition inspired her to create the Wow (Without wheat) Cake Company. Now her products have become a firm favourite with home and professional bakers across the UK.The family business manufactures a really flexible and tasty all-purpose flour as well as sponge, carrot cake and chocolate brownies mixes. All the products wheat free, gluten free, nut free, and dairy free.

The family business manufactures wheat free, gluten free, nut free, dairy free all-purpose tasty flour, sponge mix and biscuit mix.

The auto-immune disease which inspired the range and which affects Susan and her mother isn’t a lifestyle choice; it’s a medical condition, the management of which requires a strict gluten and wheat-free diet. Yet Susan found many existing products lacked taste or were dry and crumbly.

She spent 12 months funding and developing a superior alternative, buying her own manufacturing equipment and testing and blending to find the perfect mix, so that coeliacs could enjoy the same quality and tastiness of baked goods as everyone else.

And with a growing number of consumers becoming more conscious of their diet - including batch cooking and baking as opposed to buying readymade products – Susan is tapping into a growing trend.

Throughout the development period, Susan worked with Donna Taylor, High Growth Business Advisor for Blackpool Council’s G4B service. Susan first met Donna at the Blackpool Growth 4 Business Conference in 2018. That one conversation changed everything.

“Donna’s support has been invaluable,” said Susan. “Every course of action she has recommended has been the right one. She has many suggestions, advice and contacts and we trust her. Working on your own can be lonely and you can get disheartened, but Donna has always been there to reignite our enthusiasm and build our confidence.”

Donna said, “I grew up as part of a family business, so when I see a family business now it completely resonates with me. Susan doesn’t have a manufacturing background but she knows her subject matter inside out. That, together with her

tenacity in finding just the right blend for her products, has made her flours and mixes real favourites with her customers.”

Now manufacturing at premises in Lytham St Annes, Susan is looking to expand the product range with a gingerbread mix inspired by her grandchildren.Susan brought her inspiring story to this year’s Blackpool Growth 4 Business Conference held at the Winter Gardens on the 26th November.