Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Perth couple to open café and bakery at Bertha Park

Starfish Cakes & Bakes will open to the public having been an at-home business for four years.

Lynda and Andrew standing in front of their new cafe
Lynda and Andrew in front of their new cafe. Image: Nic Crossley

A cafe and bakery, with a focus on using local and Scottish produce, is to open in Perth’s Bertha Park.

Owners of Starfish Cakes & Bakes, Lynda and Andrew Stevenson, say they are excited to open the café – with hopes it will bring something for everyone.

The couple, who have given up their old jobs to pursue their new venture, have run the at-home business for four years.

Lynda, 33, told The Courier the business began when her friend wanted a birthday cake for her daughter.

‘I’ll give it a go’

She added: “When her mum priced up what she wanted for the cake, she thought it was something they couldn’t do.

“I had a look at it and said ‘I’ll give it a go’ and, from there, her little brother wanted a cake and so did my niece and nephews.

“I decided to start advertising locally and it’s just sort of spiralled from there.”

Over the last four years, Lynda – a former sales rep – said the business has seen “steady growth” to include more clients and stalls at events.

Crowds gathering for the big reveal
Crowds gathered for the big reveal. Image: Nic Crossley

Currently, the business specialises in selling custom cakes and home bakes but also has wholesale contracts.

Andrew and Lynda felt opening a premises was the logical next step for an “under-resourced area”.

“One of the neighbours joked with us we should take up one of the empty units,” said Lynda.

“We went home and went ‘why not?'”

Former electrical engineer Andrew, 33, added: “We’ve lived in Bertha Park since it started getting built, there’s now hundreds of houses and a school, but very little community facilities.

Andrew and Lynda revealing the cafe and bakery.
The grand reveal in Bertha Park. Image: Starfish Cakes & Bakes/Facebook

“It’s in our local community with our neighbours and friends and it just seemed a natural step for someone to open there.”

Andrew and Lynda are also hoping to have evening events at the café.

This would include games nights and showcase nights for other local businesses to display their goods.

For Andrew, who will be the chef, using Scottish-sourced ingredients is an important part of the business, while Lynda will be making the bakes.

New Perth cafe to use local and Scottish produce

He added: “Over four years of going to farmers markets, we’ve made a lot of friends with a lot of good produce.

“I’ve got DG Lindsey Butchers in Perth on board, our cheese is from Isle of Arran Cheddar – we’re passionate about using Scottish produce.

“We don’t want to just support other local businesses but also showcase them.

“The menu won’t be anything extravagant, it’s going to be local products cooked correctly and presented nicely.”

Despite looking to host evening events, Starfish Cakes & Bakes will primarily be a daytime café.

Andrew and Lynda, who are originally from Glasgow, hope to open their café by early November at the latest.

Conversation