In case you hadn\'t heard, we won!
Yup, our business, A-Bun-Dance the Bakers, won the award for New Business in the Highlands & Islands Food & Drink Awards 2009. We\'re over the moon to have been picked by the judges. It is a real honour to have our achievements in the business recognised by industry experts, and we\'re all really proud to have been recognised, and of what we have achieved so far. Sometimes, when you\'re deep in the day-to-day operations of keeping the business going, you don\'t always see how well you\'re doing, so moments like these really help you stop and take stock of what a success the business has actually been.
The awards ceremony was great fun, only marred by the fact that neither of our two bakers could actually attend, due to the fact they were doing what it was all about, and baking bread for our customers the next day. After a week or so of preparing myself - psyching myself up, being ready for meeting & greeting people, reacting well if we won or didn\'t win, and just dusting down my best evening dress (plus all the other practical preparations connected with making sure I looked my best!), it was quite an experience to finally be there. It did start with one those moments of walking into a sea of faces, none of which I recognised. I knew there would be someone there that I knew, but where were they?! Happily, it only took a moment to spot a familiar face. When we took our seats ready to dine, I got to meet lots of lovely new people. It didn\'t take long to feel like they were old friends already, and by the time the awards part of the evening came, they were rooting for us. When our name was read out for the first time, the hostess for the night had a smile on her face (we find our business name has that effect on people!). When we were announced as the winners (yes, that was the moment we found out), besides the fact that my heart was pumping extra fast with the adrenalin, it was a moment of relief and pure joy, which I shall cherish for a long time. All that remained was the photo call, and to let the rest of the team know!
Commiserations to the other short-listed businesses in our category- Marie Faulkes Cookery Classes, The Skye Food Company, and The Dores Inn - all of which would\'ve been equally worthy winners. I felt sad for them that they didn\'t win, but very, very happy for ourselves that we did!
There\'ll be pictures to follow soon
Well, it\'s been a while since I\'ve jotted anything down here. We\'ve been knee-deep in running the bakery.
We\'ve got more & more regular wholesale customers now, and the summer has been filled with markets. We\'re still busy with them, right up until Christmas. Baker\'s wife has turned into a Jill of all trades, and has been involved in all aspects of running the business.
Our soft white rolls have been causing a storm, and we get new requests for them every week!
And, in September, we found out we\'ve been shortlisted for an award at the Highlands & Islands Food & Drink Awards. So, tonight, I\'m off to \'the ball\' to see if we\'ve won or not. Well, to have a lovely meal, mix with lots of other lovely people in the food industry, and to see if this is our year or not. It\'s a very strange thing to be going to. I\'ve had to think of what I would need to say if we do win, fully aware that we have a one in four chance of it, so we\'re much more likely, statistically, not to win. If we do, it\'ll be a wonderful prize for a crazy first year, and if we don\'t, it\'ll be a lovely night for us to publicly celebrate our first year of trading. Better go & get my posh frock on pronto....
I\'ll keep you posted on the outcome.
Keep your fingers crossed.
