News: Fiona has the recipe for business success

Former building site worker Fiona Morgan has seen takings go up by 100% after revamping Alexandra's cafe in Rotherham with help from the Rotherham Enterprise Project.

Fiona supplies a variety of hot and cold breakfast and lunch delicacies at her cafe in Parkgate, also creating delicious treats for corporate clients and customers.

Working to improve the Café's food and hygiene standards, she gained a four-star environmental health rating and now also provides first class buffet menus after receiving business advice.

Fiona said: "I've always loved baking since I was four years old and I can't believe how far I've come on my business journey in just a year.

"I'm now expanding the enterprise with Alexandra's Buffet Company as a standalone business and I've taken on four staff members. Things couldn't be better and this is a brilliant end to a successful year."

Her business coach Darren McDool is still in touch, inputting on her business plan and she has developed a unique airbrushing technique for her baking which has been used on Sheffield Steelers branded cakes complete with airbrushed logos.

Fiona added: "My business coach from the project has been fantastic, helping me shape ideas, offering me tips on how to tap into the market and tailor my branding. I also benefit from a free mentor and entered the Rotherham Enterprise Dragon's Den event – which I won!

"Setting up alone has been tiring but rewarding as I do all my own paperwork, national insurance and invoicing. But working for myself has enabled me to see the future more clearly – something which is not controlled by somebody else."

Fiona also finished as a runner up in Rotherham's Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards 2010

Jackie Frost of Rotherham Youth Enterprise said: "This is the end of an excellent enterprising year for Fiona who is a rising star in the business world and has proved this is only the beginning of a very promising journey for 2011."

The Rotherham Enterprise Project project offers professional support for businesses and is part funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Rotherham Youth Enterprise website

Images: Rotherham Youth Enterprise