From running marathons to running a small business

Date published: 16/07/2010

Local entrepreneur Carol Hartley will open the doors to a brand new Muffin Break, a unique bakery concept straight from Australia, in The Rock Shopping Centre in Bury today.

Carol Hartley is originally from the Midlands and moved to Lancashire with her family.

Carol married a local Lancashire man and was a busy mother of two boys. Once her boys grew up, she undertook further studies and entered into a managerial career, working in the IT industry. In seeking to run and operate her own business, Carol and her husband considered a number of franchise opportunities over the years, but had not found one they believed in, until they saw the Muffin Break opportunity at The Rock, Bury.

“Having previously visited the Muffin Break café at Trafford Centre, I knew the freshly baked products and coffee was world class. We were delighted to find that there was an opportunity for a store within The Rock in Bury and are extremely excited to be opening our own Muffin Break cafe” said Carol. "The concept is different to other cafes and quick service eateries, with all products baked fresh on the premises everyday, there will be a lot of early mornings ahead for us!”

Carol is actively involved in raising money to support cancer charities within the local community. Carol has completed the 10km Manchester run for cancer, the Race for life and the Great North Run Half Marathon in 2005, raising over £500 for Macmillan Cancer Support charity.

“It’s so exciting to be opening the new store I can’t wait for the doors to open for our first day of trade. We are looking to take on at least eight members of staff PLUS we’ll be serving up freshly baked products that taste great” said Carol Hartley.

Muffin Break is a unique bakery café concept offering an irresistible combination of freshly baked food, including delicious cakes, slices, cookies, quiches, sandwiches and of course muffins! The team at Muffin Break only use the highest quality ingredients with no preservatives in sight. Products are made with a variety of healthy ingredients like fruit, nuts and seeds, there’s also gluten free and low fat muffin ranges as well as some of your favourite chocolate, caramel, honeycomb and coffee flavours for that extra special treat.

Muffin Break’s National Operations Manager Michael Johnson says: “Muffin Break’s philosophy of ‘fresh food, big flavour’ is a key to the business. Customers can see us baking every day, so they are assured that our muffins, cakes, sandwiches and quiches are always fresh.”