Vanilla Pod Bakery Case Study

Pia Cato has been making cakes since she was a child, and now she makes her living creating amazing, delectable baked creations with a dedicated team in her bakery in Cheltenham. 

During her time at University in Cheltenham, Pia won a business planning competition with a proposal for her own food business, and took the step to set one up upon leaving. 

Her early days were hard but enjoyable:

“I used to bake cakes and take them to all the local markets,” she said. “I’ve moved premises a few times, but the business has been going for 11 years.”

Pia has specialised in cakes for extra special occasions, with weddings being her primary income until the disruption of the pandemic: “I’m now making all types of cake for any special occasion, and the business is doing well. I enjoy that people ask me to create something so special for the moments in their lives they want to remember. I love making things from scratch and getting to be creative in my work.”

Pia uses equipment supplied by Rental+ to run her business and said she was  delighted to find the service online. Pia has used a fridge, a mixer, one table and an oven on a two-year Rental+ contract, and added a new dishwasher, a freezer and additional table when she moved into larger premises earlier this year. 

“I didn’t know what equipment I needed, and when I found Rental+, they were really helpful – everyone I’ve dealt with has been lovely and knows a lot about the equipment. They have made it easy.

“What I love about Rental+ is that I wasn’t sure about the equipment and didn’t know how to fix it if it went wrong. With Rental+, I didn’t have to buy outright and take that risk on equipment I didn’t know. I could try it for two years and see. If things go wrong, I call Rental+, and they get fixed. I’ve just added items to my hire when I moved to a larger premises, and that was really easy too. 

“Rental+ feels less of a commitment and is just so easy.”