Company Name: Biscuiteers
Location: 194 Kensington Park Road, London, W11 2ES
What does Biscuiteers do?
We are a baking company known for making beautiful hand-iced biscuits, although we also make gorgeous cakes, chocolates and macarons. We also run brilliant icing workshops for hen parties from our Notting Hill Boutique, as well as icing classes, corporate events and children’s parties. We even offer a bespoke service for wedding favours where we can create unique bespoke biscuits, cakes or chocolates for your wedding.
How did the business start and how long has it been going?
Biscuiteers was founded in 2007 by husband and wife team Harriet Hastings and Stevie Congdon, co-directors of London catering company Lettice. Based around the tagline ‘Why send flowers when you can send Biscuiteers?’, they developed a unique range of hand-iced biscuit collections, with a focus on seasonal ranges. At the end of 2012 we opened our shop — the Biscuiteers Boutique and Icing Café in Notting Hill, where we sell all of our online products (in a beautiful setting!) and also hosts the Icing Café. From here we run classes, workshops, parties and events where our skilled team of icers teach guests our best tips and techniques to help them ice like a Biscuiteer!
Why is the business called Biscuiteers?
It was actually Stevie’s idea — there are four partners and they all enjoyed the Musketeers reference!
Where is Biscuiteers based?
Our bakery and offices are based in Kennington, south London, but our shop is in the heart of Notting Hill at 194 Kensington Park Road — just off of Portobello Road.
What type of hen parties does Biscuiteers offer? What will the bride and her hens create?
At our hen parties you’ll be welcomed with a glass of Prosecco while our expert icer shows you our icing secrets. We’ll take you through how to use flood and line icing, how to control a piping bag, as well as lots of different effects and finishes. It’s a lovely way to celebrate an upcoming wedding in an intimate group, whilst doing something fun and creative. Hopefully they will leave with some very pretty biscuits that they made themselves (although after a glass of Prosecco that’s not always the case!). If your icing is up to scratch then you could even ice your own favours!
What type of packages do you offer and what is included?
Our standard hen party package lasts for an hour and a half, and is priced at £56 per head. This includes:
- All the icing and decorations to ice five biscuits per person
- A complimentary glass of Prosecco
- A Biscuiteers 100% cotton apron
- 10% off in store after the event
We can also offer our Afternoon Tea, or put you in touch with our sister company Lettice if you would like any food.
Do you only have set packages available or can a bride have a tailored package?
Of course! If you have any specific requirements, fancy a longer class, or even want to go with a particular theme then we can do this for you; just get in touch.
Do hen parties take place at your venue or elsewhere?
We can host hen parties at our boutique, or we can come to you at a venue of your choice and bring all of our equipment with us (we’re quite portable!).
Some hen parties can be quite expensive; are there payment options available to help people with the cost?
We ask for a deposit payment to confirm the date of the icing party, and then full payment around a week beforehand when we’re finalising the details.
How long in advance should brides (or bridesmaids) start thinking about booking their hen parties with Biscuiteers?
We can get quite booked up, especially around summer and Christmas, so it’s best to enquire early, but generally we like to have about a month’s notice to get everything together for you (we’re very flexible though!).
Why should a bride have her hen party with Biscuiteers?
We’ve found that more and more people are looking to do something a bit different for their hen party, often in more intimate groups. The icing workshop is such a nice way to bond, and having an activity to do can be really helpful to break the ice if you have lots of different friends that don’t necessarily know each other very well. It’s always fun learning a new skill, and we can have some fun and get creative with the designs as well — the things you ice can really be as unique as you are. It’s perfect as a way to get together before heading off for drinks too.
What are your top tips for arranging a hen party?
Don’t panic! I think you need to do something that’s inclusive, as it’s often a wide range of people attending, so you need to pick something that the bride’s mother will enjoy as much as her crazy friend from university. Try arranging an activity during the day as well as a night out, so people can choose what they come to. Everyone is there to support the bride, so if you do something that she’ll like then you can’t go wrong.
What other events do Biscuiteers run?
We’ve got lots of events that we run — from regular icing classes, to corporate events, to children’s parties. It’s such a fun thing to do we’ve found that people will find any excuse to ask us to host an event! We run two hour classes every Wednesday and Sunday where we teach an in-depth class showing people how to ice a whole tin of our biscuits, plus once a month we run a Masterclass in which we show how to make the icing itself, as well as covering a huge range of techniques; we even throw in afternoon tea! There’s very few things which can’t be improved by a bit of biscuit icing, so we’re always on board to try new events.
Random question… What’s your favourite sweet?
We’ve got great Hattie and Blythe sweets that we sell in our shop which are very tasty, but of course we’d normally go for a biscuit instead!
Where can I find out more about Biscuiteers?
You can check out our website www.biscuiteers.com or follow us on Facebook www.facebook.com/Biscuiteers, Twitter @BiscuiteersLtd and Instagram biscuiteersltd
