Make lockdown a little sweeter and support Portsmouth's food entrepreneurs

Roxy Smedley founded The Cheesecake Vault in March 2019. Her small business, which she runs out of her home at Farlington, has taken off. The 21-year-old says: ‘I had been baking cakes for my family and friends and then started doing cheesecakes. I thought it was something niche and saw the gap in the market, so I founded The Cheesecake Vault.’

With more than 2,000 followers on Instagram, Roxy runs her booming business in her spare time. She explains: ‘I work as an accounts assistant but have been furloughed so I’m investing all of my time in this.

‘It’s difficult to manage a full-time job and a small business – it has its ups and downs. But my boyfriend, family and friends have been so supportive.’

Three weeks into lockdown, Roxy lost her 86-year-old grandad to Covid-19. ‘The nurses at QA were so good. It was a horrendous time,’ says Roxy.

‘I stopped taking orders because it didn’t seem right. But after his funeral, I thought, “how can I help and make others happier?” All I can really do is make cheesecakes so I sent them in.’

Roxy donated two cheesecakes to Queen Alexandra Hospital, Cosham, to show her appreciation. Now, she has around 20 orders a week, varying from the big cheesecakes – which cost between £40-£60 – and treat boxes which consist of mini cheesecakes, priced at two for £7, and also offers free delivery.

‘I’ve had so many families send each other cheesecakes. It’s lovely being able to make someone else’s day,’ she adds.

Flipping pancakes in her Havant kitchen, Eloise Houghton – the founder of Fat Stacks Southsea – has also been offering another sweet service during lockdown.

When the 22-year-old graduated from the University of Portsmouth last year, she founded her pancake business and offers three American-style pancakes, with three toppings sandwiched in each layer, for £6.

Eloise, who was working as a waitress at Brewers Fayre, Clarence Pier, before she was furloughed, explains: ‘It’s a lot busier in lockdown than I was expecting. I’ve had a lot of people send it to others as gifts.’

She admits that she saw many people creating cakes but saw a gap in the market with her idea, similar to Roxy. Eloise smiles and says: ‘I really like to experiment with flavours. One of my favourite toppings is sausages and strawberries.’

Offering something different is Nehanda Roberts, founder of Grazed, who has been creating sweet and savoury boards which can be delivered to your door. ‘I started my business three weeks ago. I’m really happy with it,’ says Nehanda, who normally wakes up at 5.30am to start creating the boards.

The 22-year-old law student from Southsea explains that her business was inspired by an event at her work, The Emporium Bar, Southsea, and also her trip to Australia. Nehanda says: ‘In Australia, they were really popular. I noticed not a lot of people were selling them here. As soon as I made the Instagram page, I had people messaging me. I’ve had around 80 orders in the past few weeks.’

Grazed offers several boards, including the breakfast board – £15 for two people – which includes ham, cheeses, croissants, fruit, granola pots and more. The afternoon tea board, for £17.50, includes a number of finger sandwiches, fresh scones, fruit, clotted cream – to name a few.

‘I try to make it as affordable as I can. A lot of people don’t have much money at the moment, so it has to be the right price,’ adds Nehanda.

Similarly to Nehanda, Zoe Lewis founded her sweet pick’n’mix business, Elite Treats, just a month ago. She smiles and says: ‘It’s gone really well – I’ve hit 200 orders already.’

The 26-year-old from Lee-on-the-Solent was working as a hire controller but lost her job during lockdown. She explains: ‘It’s a hard time for a lot of people and so many are in my position. I love sweets anyway but I wanted to create something that would be a little pick-me-up for people.

‘At first, I started with a product list of 12 and I’m now up to 44 different products. I now spend a couple of hundred pounds of stock to keep up with demand.’

Southsea’s popular bakery, Bread Addiction, has also turned to deliveries and collections. Two weeks into lockdown, the Elm Grove establishment opened their online bakery, offering pastries and bread.

Nikky Ondrouskova, who owns Bread Addiction with Ladi Adamek, says they’re enjoying this new way of working and delivering freshly-baked goods on a Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The 30-year-old from Southsea says: ‘Without small businesses, many local people wouldn’t have jobs. It’s like a chain reaction. You can’t get what we provide at a supermarket.’

It has never been more vital to support small and local businesses who rely on our support. Roxy says: ‘Supporting local businesses is something so close to my heart. I’m feeling so lucky that I can run my business at the moment. Other businesses, such as my sister’s hair salon, can’t and it’s terrifying.’

‘Portsmouth especially has so many small businesses that we want to survive. It’s not a commercial chain that may go under, it could be your friend’s shop,’ adds Nehanda.

It’s all in the detail

Place your cheesecake order with Roxy by calling 07768 159 880, messaging her page on Instagram @thecheesecakevault or going to The Cheesecake Vault Facebook page.

Contact Eloise for pancakes by calling 07503 156 697, messaging her page on Instagram @fatstacks.southsea or going to Fat Stacks Pancakes Facebook page.

Get your hands on a Grazed board by calling Nehanda on 07801 752 319, messaging her on Instagram @grazedd_ or typing Grazed. into Facebook.

Find out more from Zoe by calling 07775 444 463, dropping her a line on Instagram @elite.treats or going to elite-treats.co.uk.

Bread Addiction take their orders online via their website: breadaddiction.co.uk. Call them on 07411 449 177 for details about order times and delivery days.