A Cambridge-student-owned business, Cambridge Baking Company, has been nominated for the Best New Business Award at the 2020-21 Be Social Cambridge Awards. The business, which sells at-home baking kits, is run by Clare Hall MPhil student Amelia Shaw.

Voting for the Be Social Cambridge Awards will occur in two rounds, with the first round – voted for by the public – running from 14th to 20th April. The top four businesses in each category will then qualify for the second round, which will run from 21st to 23rd April. The winners will be voted on by five panellists and will be announced on Saturday 24th April.

The Cambridge Baking Company started at the beginning of 2021 with the aim of making “baking as easy and enjoyable as possible”- and has opted for an eco-friendly business model- using reusable glass bottles and biodegradable bubble wrap and string. Founder Amelia Shaw said that she is “striving to make the company as sustainable as possible”. The ingredients are also organic, local and Fairtrade.

Shaw, whose MPhil research focuses on 1960s popular music, started thinking about creating ingredient mixes when she was home for Christmas with her boyfriend and her dad, who “struggle to bake, but love the results of it.” Having grown up on a farm, she came up with the idea of putting the ingredient mixes into milk bottles.

“There are a lot of companies out there selling amazing baked goods”, Shaw emphasised, “but we’re a little different. Those companies are great, but for me, part of the fun is the actual baking, and I really wanted to share that.”

“I love studying at Cambridge” she added, “but with the lockdown, I needed something else to do, and also a creative outlet!”

Shaw continued: “People always ask how I manage to do it, but it’s honestly just time management and discipline. I only do work related to the company in the evenings or at the weekends, and the rest of the time I do my MPhil work.”

Having been “blown away” by her nomination for the award, Shaw describes how she has “loved to bake for [her] whole life” and still gets excited when she receives positive feedback from customers who have enjoyed her products.

“To be acknowledged as a growing local business is something I’m really proud of, and I can’t wait to see what the next few months hold.”