Cake baker stops selling 'leftovers' over £795 fee

A Goole business owner said she had to stop selling leftover cakes from an honesty box outside her home because council rules means she would need to pay up to £795 for a licence.

Steph Goodhand owns a coffee trailer business and wanted to use a cake shed on her drive to sell spare bakes from private events she attends about "once a month".

However, after seeing another cake shed owner threatened with a £1,000 fine in a different local authority area, she contacted East Riding of Yorkshire Council (ERYC) and was told she would need a street trading licence.

A council spokesperson said a licence was required when someone "is operating on a business footing".

They said examples of this included promoting sales on social media, offering card payments, or intentionally producing goods for sale.

According to the ERYC website, a six-month seasonal licence costs £440 and an annual one is £795.

Goodhand said the cost of the licence was "100% prohibitive for small businesses" and she was "very disappointed" she was no longer able to sell her spare bakes after investing in a cake shed.

"There's absolutely no way it's going to be financially viable to get a street trading licence just to sell cake out of it probably once a month."

The 34-year-old does not currently hold a street trading licence because she only operates her trailer at private events.

Goodhand said: "There's not that much profit in cake, like it's not what people think. Ingredients are so expensive now - chocolate, eggs, butter... everything is so expensive."

Another Goole baker, Brilliant Brownies, posted on social media in May they would stop using the honesty cake shed on their drive after being informed by ERYC that a licence was needed.

Goodhand questioned why rules for other honesty boxes selling eggs or vegetables appeared to be treated differently.

"That apparently is okay but cake is not? It doesn't make sense."

ERYC said: "Licences are not normally required where residents are selling items from their home on a temporary or occasional basis, for example extra eggs sold using an honesty box."

Goodhand raised concerns about the lack of information from ERYC, saying she received food hygiene approval without being told a trading licence might also be needed.

"So many people have started doing these cake sheds thinking this is great with nothing to pay.

"I don't know why these two areas of the council don't communicate with each other either."

ERYC urged anyone considering setting up a cake shed to contact its licensing and food services teams for advice.

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