A North Wales baker is rocketing to the top after scooping two major awards and landing an out-of-this world wedding cake featuring Star Trek and Doctor Who.<\/p>\n
Helen Searle-Jones, who runs Searle Jones Cake Design in Hope, Flintshire, has been crowned Best Cake Company at the North Wales Wedding Awards \u2013 a title decided entirely by votes from couples she has baked for.<\/p>\n
The mum-of-of three also impressed judges at the world-famous Cake International Show at Birmingham\u2019s NEC, returning home with a bronze in the wedding cake category and basking in the honour of being asked to give a demonstration on cake making.<\/p>\n
The mum-of-three said her decision to have a bespoke studio built in her back garden this year by the expert team at Rubicon Garden Rooms has been a key ingredient to the growth and success of her cake design business.<\/p>\n
The building, created by the company based on the Cheshire-North Wales border in Penyffordd, has allowed Helen to take her cake-making career out of the family kitchen and into a tailor-made base which she now uses as a creative kitchen, teaching space and cake design hub.<\/p>\n
She said winning the best cake company prize at the glittering North Wales Wedding Awards, held at Venue Cymru in Llandudno, was a particular delight because newly-weds she had made cakes for had voted for her to be a finalist.<\/p>\n
Helen said: \u201cIt means the world to me because the award is based on votes from from couples that I have had the honour to be part of their wedding day.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the competition you also put in a bit of information about your business, how you\u2019ve done over the past year, what you\u2019re doing to grow the business – so for example I said I had the studio built.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were actually 10 companies in the category for best cake company so I wasn\u2019t expecting to win at all, it was the first time I had ever entered, so to win was wonderful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rob Lyon, sales and marketing manager at Rubicon Garden Rooms, said the firm was thrilled\u00a0 to have played a role in Helen\u2019s success.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cIt is brilliant for Helen to achieve what she has achieved so quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are really excited for her and for what the future holds.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be able to make a difference to people\u2019s lives and careers is so important.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not just about providing a lovely building, it\u2019s about what our customers can do in that building – and it\u2019s clearly making a big difference to what Helen is able to achieve.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people mention the work\/life balance and being able to leave your work at work by having a garden room rather than working in their own home can do that for many of our customers.<\/p>\n
\u201cBespoke studios are continuing to be a very popular choice for many of our customers, there are so many different uses you can put our buildings to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Helen added: Having the new studio has been transformational and I thank Rubicon for doing this for me.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt means I can take on larger projects, I can take on bespoke work, and I can really create that process from start to finish of making that love story cake for the couples and I\u2019m currently taking orders for 2026 and 2027.\u201d<\/p>\n
Helen launched the cake business on a full-time basis earlier this year following a 30-year career in the IT industry.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cIn 2026 I am looking to push the wedding cakes into that high-end venue, high-end wedding sector and to collaborate with venues across North Wales and Cheshire.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am looking to potentially work with luxury wedding planners to continue to create those show-stopper cakes which couples are looking for to be the central part of their day.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have got one couple booked who have said to me \u2018we are actually having our wedding around our cake\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are talking about going travelling a lot, so they want a travel layer on there, they like sci-fi so they want Star Trek in there, they want Dr Who in there, there are all those different elements.\u201d<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s award success follows top honours last year for Helen when she won a gold award for a Pirates of the Caribbean themed creation.<\/p>\n