Rugby player turns hand to baking cakes

Trevor, who played for Shoreham Rugby Club and coached at Worthing, was already an award-winning confectioner when he opened The Cake Box shop in 2008.

In the six years since then, he has made about 2,500 birthday, christening, wedding and novelty cakes and his business in Littlehampton Road, Worthing, is now well established.

In 2008, a deep recession started and it was an extremely difficult time for any fledgling entrepreneur, so ensuring success meant hanging up the rugby boots.

Trevor, 48, who lives in Sompting, said: “This is how your life and social circle evolve – you run a business and in the first two or three years it takes over your life.

“You’re at the shop six days a week, sometimes seven: but that’s life and it’s called having a business.

“You are working your socks off to establish yourself, which you do, and now that pressure has settled down and the business stands on its own merit.”

However, Trevor said 2013 had been difficult for many people in the wedding trade because of superstitions surrounding the number 13.

“Last year, business was a lot quieter on wedding cakes because it was 2013 and people weren’t getting married.

“Orders for wedding cakes in 2014 are better.”

Trevor started his working life as a trainee in a Shoreham bakery and took his City and Guilds
in the Design and Decoration of Flour Confectionery, winning a Salon Culinaire chef’s gold medal for his cherry and fruit cakes and the outstanding achievement prize at the end of his course.

He went on to produce cakes for several famous names, including former world boxing champion Chris Eubank and horror writer James Herbert.

Novelty creations include the predictable, such as favourite cartoon characters, to the more unusual – a cake made to look like. . . a pizza.

Contact Trevor at [email protected] or telephone The Cake Box on 01903 830911.