Enterprise Nation

Before becoming a Mum, Kate Jenkins had a background in sales, marketing and PR. She's putting her skills to good use in promoting her delicious business, Gower Cottage Brownies, that makes and sells .. you guessed it, tasty and incredibly more-ish brownies! Kate puts down her mixing bowl for a moment to answer a few questions on how it all began.

How did you come up with the idea for the business?

We were living in Sweden because of my husbands job and I had both my children out there. I spent a lot of time thinking, because I had a lot of time on my hands (crikey, that seems a long time ago!) so when we finally came home, I started a small catering company with my mother in law called Crumbles Catering specialising in great home cooked food. I've pretty much handed this business over to my mother in law as the growth of the brownie business has really taken off.

Are all the brownies cooked in your kitchen?

Yes!! Such growth has meant changes are afoot ... we are about to start building works to knock through into our Holiday cottage next door and make it all one big house, enabling me to turn my current kitchen into a purely commercial one, kitting it out in industrial style mixers, trolleys, racking etc.

Do your sons help out?

Yes again! Not sure if I should admit to the fact my 7 year old does Post Office runs for me! They are very aware of the business and have been involved in many, many, TV and photo shoots, they are mini professional models now!

In terms of sales, do you sell more online or in stockists stores?

Stockists stores ,especially seasonally, but online orders are growing v fast daily.

What has been your most effective marketing activity to date?

Simply sending my giftboxes to food and feature editors alongwith a press release, the product does sell itself, there are so many angles for journos from Welsh Produce, Award winner, cottage industry, mumpreneur, rural enterprise, etc. I also have an effective regular mailout to all customers on my database informing them of a new recipe on the site and letting them know of special offers, ,most recently around fathers day I offered Buy 2 get 1 For you, this went down v well, I also held a competition for my new company name when I had to re-brand due to being rather bullied by a multi million pound manufacturing co!

You've won some great Awards - have these helped the business grow?

Without a doubt, winning my first award with True Taste basically added gravitas to my product and it was from here that I began sending press releases and samples to the media and gained amazing coverage in all the national newspapers and glossies. Within Wales we are extremely lucky to have the Welsh Assembly funding a lot of True Taste and therefore the marketing opportunities have been excellent, I have been able to exhibit at various events in London, which would not have been affordable to me as a small producer, allowing me to increase my market awareness.

What are your plans for the business in 2009?

I am concentrating on increasing my wholesale orders and looking to supply high quality eateries and delicatessens across the rest of the UK. Whilst of course still maintaining my press exposure and am looking into all aspects of increasing production processes.

Kate Jenkins talks to Enterprise Nation

• Gower Cottage Brownies

(We should add a note here to say the team at EN has tasted Kate's brownie treats .. from the quality packaging to the first bite, it was an all-round enjoyable experience!)