It’s always good to hear of a local entrepreneur who decides to build a successful business in Worthing. This is exactly what Lauren Roffey, owner of coffee and cake shop – Baked, has done.

Brought up around Worthing, and a student of Worthing High School and Worthing College, Lauren graduated from the University of Sussex with a master’s degree in geography. Lauren then went to Norwich to study at the University of East Anglia for her PhD in Environmental and Social Sciences.

While Lauren is the first to admit that her time at university taught her a lot, it also taught her that a dichotomy exists between the interests of Big Business and those of society. So Lauren set out to show that it is possible to create a sustainable business built around quality and fairness. Out of this Baked was born, opening in August 2014.

Lauren set up Baked as a social enterprise. She quickly corrects a common misconception: “A social enterprise is not a charity; it’s a financially sustainable and profitable business that serves a social and community purpose.”

So how does Baked tick these social boxes? Lauren explains: “I set up Baked to work with young people aged 18 to 24. At its core a social enterprise needs a cause and this was mine. I also wanted to create a community space because people need somewhere to meet in a safe environment. And I resolved to source from local suppliers where this is practical and possible.”

Lauren has achieved all these aims, including recruiting an assistant manager in a very socially enterprising way: a Twitter campaign. “I asked people to tweet why they would like to work at Baked.” Explains Lauren, “I was amazed by the response and found just who I was looking for.” Right from the off too, Lauren made sure she paid the UK Living Wage.

Although Lauren had the baking skills and believed in what she was trying to create, she had no experience of how to start a business. “I joined Worthing and Adur Chamber of Commerce and signed up for their start-up peer mentoring programme, along with eight other new businesses.” Explains Lauren, “The opportunity to learn from and bounce off each other was invaluable and I say to anyone wanting to start their own business: join the Chamber and sign up for peer mentoring.”

So where next for Baked? “The last eighteen months has been busy so right now I’m taking stock.” Says Lauren, “I’ve no plans to build a chain of cafés but maybe, just maybe, I will open another Baked in the area at some point.”