The Cookie Queen bakery in Portsmouth closes as single mum relocates business due to soaring costs and unmanageable workload

Gemma Daysh, 39, opened a shopfront for The Cookie Queen in May – steps away from where her great-great-grandfather’s business traded. Despite people lining the streets when it opened, the costs of running the Cosham High Street store, and balancing it alongside family life, were too much to bare.

The entrepreneur told The News: ‘There has been a huge rise in the cost of energy and raw materials. High street costs are high and everything else is going up.

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‘The sensible option was to make the rent cheaper.’ Opening the store restricted Ms Daysh from selling her New York style stuffed cookies at Winchester market – previously a popular location.

In a Facebook statement to customers, Ms Daysh claimed her partner of 10 years was having a two-and-a-half-year affair, leaving her opening a business and looking after her children Charlie and Ivy – alongside two dogs, two cats and two horses – all at once.

Both factors meant she could not sell at markets – a vital income stream. The Portchester resident said she has seen ‘a massive jump in costs across the board’, with the price of 40 blocks of butter increasing from £49.99 to £79.99 and the monthly electricity bill soaring from £130 per month to £600 a month.

Ms Daysh took the leap of faith after receiving investment for the shop. It was two doors down from where Frank William Daysh ran Frank W. Daysh Bakery and Grocer traded in the early 1900s.

She was originally looking at a unit in Wickham – the site of the new base of operations – before the move. The new HQ launches this week.

The Cookie Queen will still attend markets and food festivals, operate online, ship nationwide and do local deliveries, but will no longer have a shop counter.

Ms Daysh added running a high street store was not originally part of her long term vision. She added with ‘very low’ customer footfall during the winter and a ‘big drop’ in high street sales, she could not justify the extra expense.

‘A shop front and a cookie counter was never part of the original plan,’ she added. ‘I needed more space to bake.

‘I didn’t need a shop front and if it’s quiet, then there is not much point in having it. It was a cost-effective decision.

‘I know with the stalls I can clear my stock, and for online, I bake to order. There’s no point in keeping a counter fully stocked if the products aren’t going to sell.’

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Ms Daysh said the main driving force behind the initial move was the family connection. ‘The opportunity with the shop was something I didn’t want to miss out on,’ she added.

‘I thought of how lovely it would be to have it there. It’s a real shame it didn’t work out.’ Ms Daysh said the new location will make everything more manageable.

Her daughter Ivy has Cystic Fibrosis, requiring regular hospital and physio trips. Ms Daysh said she’s confident her business is being taken in the right direction.

‘I’m pleased with the move to Wickham and I feel like this will be a good thing for the business,’ she said.