The Business Exchange Swindon & Wiltshire Edition 21: Oct/Nov 2015 | Page 16

WILTSHIRE WOMEN MEAN BUSINESS

Samantha
Whittingham

Sandy Evans
Founder of PA to Go
PA To Go is a Trowbridge based personal
and virtual PA agency working across
the county and the UK. They work
with a number of businesses, charities,
organisations and individuals, offering
executive support, travel and diary
management, online services and
conference and event co-ordination.
Founder Sandy Evans set up the business
after taking voluntary redundancy at a local
charity in 2013. Not ready to hang up her
hat, Sandy got thinking about what she
wanted to do. After spotting an article
in an executive PA magazine for a virtual
assistant, Sandy decided to launch her own
business. PA To Go’s first contract was with
charity Bio Science for Farming in Africa,
supporting two doctors and a professor
from Cambridge University with their work
that helps to improve African villagers’
knowledge about crops.
Sandy has continued to build her
client base through networking events,
prior business relationships and website
investment.
PA To Go now works closely with the
Local Enterprise Partnership for Swindon
& Wiltshire (SWLEP) and fulfils the role of
project co-ordinator for events.
As PA To Go has grown over the last
few years Sandy has taken on her first

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THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2015

employee Jane Wright. Sandy knew Jane
from the past when they both worked at
West Wiltshire District Council together.
Jane runs the social media for the company
and acts as a business support specialist.
She now also has two family working parttime for the business.
Sandy said: “I believe PA To Go’s success
is down to our flexible service offering. We
offer our time from as little as 30 minutes
(to take minutes for an important tele-co
for example), to working on a longer term
contract basis acting as an extension of
an organisation’s team. I am delighted
with how PA To Go has grown in the last
few months and can’t wait to enjoy its
continued growth in the coming years.”
To find out more visit:
www.pa-togo.com and follow them on
Twitter @PatogoSandy

Little Miss Cake Maker started as an
experimental baking blog. Founder Samantha
Whittingham has always been a baking
enthusiast and used the blog as a place to
share her passion before the blog evolved into
an online cake shop in 2014.
Before setting up the business Sam
worked for Future Publishing in Bath, selling
advertising space for craft magazines. A lot
of her clients were small businesses and this
inspired Sam to set up one of her own.
To get the business idea started Sam
contacted Outset Swindon, the business
start-up service that was set up by Swindon
Borough Council. Samantha worked with the
Outset team to create her business plan and
then got to work.
Samantha’s partner Kris is a software
specialist and runs Bit Forge Systems Ltd. He
helped her with launching Little Miss Cake
Maker online and investigated the best way
to do this.
Sam said: “I see Little Miss Cake Maker as
the cake shop of the future. Using a traditional
craft and breaking the mould. My style isn’t
traditional; I don’t bake flowery cakes like you
see in the books. I create edible advertising.”
Sam has a degree in advertising design
and although she has always worked in the

creative industries, due to the recession she
was pushed into sales roles. Setting up Little
Miss Cake Maker has allowed her to maximise
her skill set and offer something new to
the market place. Corporate cakes are her
speciality and she makes cakes to celebrate
business birthdays, cupcakes for business
shows and celebratory treats.
Little Miss Cake Maker is currently
celebrating growth and is increasing its
capacity by moving into a commercial kitchen,
sharing space with successful Swindon firm
Hospitality Services 24:7.
Sam said: “This is a great opportunity for
the business to expand and for me to learn
from the Hospitality Services team and how
they work.”

Visit the online shop:
www.littlemisscakemaker.com