A Nottingham-based sweet shop has been shortlisted for a national award because of their rapid growth.
Family run company The Treat Kitchen has been nominated for a Citi Microentrepreneurship Award after expanding from one to six stores in under three years.
Martin and Jessica Barnett opened their Wheeler Gate shop in 2014 and now sell their treats in Coventry, Sheffield, Derby, Leicester and Dudley.
The Treat Kitchen merges the old with the new by selling classic favourites such as bon-bons and jelly beans but using modern decor, such as white shelving, and reusable packaging.
Owner Jessica said: “Hopefully we’ve taken everything that’s good about a sweet shop and brought it into a modern era.
“We hope that we are taking that fondness for the familiar but challenging people with new favourites.”
The Barnett family have a history steeped in sweets, and used to own two confectionery factories in Nottingham dating back to the 1890s.
Jessica said: “We think there’s a trend for Nostalgia in troubling times, and I think that it does comfort people.
“We still think sweets in general are popular and want to capture those popular flavour and tastes but we’ve tried to bring them into the modern city centre style.”
The Treat Kitchen got their start through First Enterprise, a Nottingham company who help local businesses to start up when they might otherwise not be able to get a loan from the bank.
“We are just super thrilled to be nominated really,” added Jess.
“As a small business we have such a good team around us, the staff but also our friends and family.”
The winner will be announced on March 28.
