Anyone wishing to enjoy a last cake from The Cake Forge must do so quickly.

In a statement via Facebook on Monday, September 18, husband and wife Dan and Kate Mills, who have run the business for seven years, announced the shop would be closing.

The couple said the “difficult decision” was made with a “heavy heart.”

They cited multiple reasons for the shops closure, chief among them Dan’s personal health problems with his heart.

The Mills learned on Thursday, September 14, that Dan has three blocked heart valves and will require a triple bypass, which means he will be unable to bake cakes for at least six months, Kate said.

Kate said: “Dan, obviously, is the cakemaker here, and it’s the cakes that keeps us running.

“It’s heartbreaking because we have the most fantastic customers. I love it.

“Seven years, we’ve been through thick and thin and we’ve kept it going, but now, unfortunately, it’s been taken out of our hands.”

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Although sad, Kate said the positive and caring reaction of people on social media has been outstanding.

She said: “Everybody’s been absolutely incredible. When I published the post last night, which was incredibly hard, the words people have said were just amazing- absolutely incredible. Because we’ve thrived on customer service and doing the best we can.”

Kate said things had already been difficult over the past year due to the cost-of-living crisis, which has prompted many to spend less money on cakes, though she and Dan were prepared to rough it out before the revelation of his heart problems.

Kate said: “[The cost-of-living has] almost spiralled out of control. It hasn’t gone up just a little bit. A lot of it’s unrealistic.

“We would have kept fighting and fighting and fighting.”

The art of bespoke cakemaking originally began as a hobby for Dan and Kate, with the first cake they ever created together being for Dan’s cousin’s wedding 15 years ago.

Several years later, the Mills turned Dan’s passion into a business, operating out of a small first-floor studio above another shop before relocating to The Maltings in 2017.

Through the years, Dan has created numerous cakes. Kate said some recent memorable ones were a wedding cake designed to match a painting that the couple liked, and a 90th birthday cake in the shape of a suitcase, which is hardly discernible from an actual suitcase in the photographs.

The Cake Forge’s last day of business will be on Saturday, September 30, with normal business hours from 10am to 4pm.