This is part of uOpen’s 'Industry Insights' interview series - a valuable collection of informative and intelligent insights into how some of the UK's best-known and most-loved subscription box businesses came to be and got to where they are - all shared by the very people who made it happen...

Covering customer acquisition to fulfilment, this blog series offers a behind the scenes look at how the many moving parts of these complex, yet successful operations come together each month to satisfy the ever-growing demand of subscription box customers in the UK.

How did the idea for your subscription box come about?

We've always loved to bake and used to cater for many different occasions. Everyone loved our cakes and bakes, and so the idea came from wanting to find a way to share our recipes with everyone and creating a baking subscription box seemed the best way.

What attracted you to the subscription box model?

It was a way to send out our recipes on a monthly basis to our subscribers. A monthly subscription is very exciting no matter what you're signed up to - it's always something you look forward to receiving.

How did you validate your idea and test the market?

We tested our bakes with friends, family and focus groups. We then went on to marketing our idea to the rest of the UK to which we received a positive response.

How did you acquire your first customers?

Word of mouth.

Did you raise any seed or investor funding to help you grow?

No.

How long have you been running now and what are your most successful achievements and milestones so far?

Since December 2016.

With the rise of new boxes launching all the time, what do you see as your USP that sets you apart from your competitors?

We believe in baking from scratch, and other baking boxes include either a cake mix or have ingredients that are already measured out which doesn't teach baking from scratch. We include brands that subscribers can see, so they know exactly what ingredients they're baking with!

How does your business continue to find new and exciting products to keep your customers engaged and excited every month?

We have many family recipes that we will continue to share, and we also love to experiment in the kitchen to create new and exciting recipes. We also research the best products to put in our boxes every month for our subscribers.

Have there been any particularly pivotal moments so far that have required you to make changes to how you operate?

No, we just decided to include vegan and gluten-free boxes to make sure we have baking boxes for everyone.

How large is your team? What type of roles do they have?

We are a family business, and so everyone helps with every part of our business!

Across all operational areas of your business, what do you manage in-house and what do you outsource to external suppliers to support you with - and why is this?

We manage everything in-house.

How do you see the subscription box industry is evolving and what do you believe are going to be your biggest challenges over the next 12 months?

We see it continuing to grow, so we need to make sure that we stand out.

What do you enjoy most about running your subscription box business?

It's fun working together as a family, doing what we love and sharing our recipes. We receive excellent feedback from our subscribers, and this makes us so happy!

What excites you about uOpen, and how do you see the marketplace featuring in your business' future?

We're excited about reaching more potential subscribers who can try our boxes and bake some delicious desserts. Therefore uOpen has given us a chance to expand our business, and so we're excited to feature on the marketplace.