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Sweet success makes soap awards a tailor-made event

Ria Nortcliffe
7/ 5/2008

LIFE is sweet for businesswoman Melissa Lee who gave the showbiz glitterati a taste of Wilmslow at the British Soap Awards.

The wraps are now well and truly off Melissa’s Tailored Chocolates as television stars toasted their accolades with her luxury goodies, each with their own custom-made packaging, especially for the event.

Winners and losers alike enjoyed the red carpet treatment, tucking into the superior quality Belgian chocs in tailor-made wrappers with the Soap Awards logo on.

It was one of the company’s most prestigious orders yet to despatch 34 kilos of the sumptuous chocs to the glamourous event.

Mum of two, Melissa, 35, who set up the business at her Manchester Road home two years ago, said: "I was watching ITV’s Loose Women and had the idea of sending in some personalised chocolate bars to them, just for publicity, but then they asked if I would make some celebrity goody bags for them.

"Following that ITV telephoned and asked if I would make 850 of them for the British Soap Awards along with goody bags and chocolates with VIP wrappers for those presenting the awards.

"The chocolates had the British Soap Awards logo on and Phillip Schofield and Fern Britton, the presenters, received their very own glitter embossed chocolate with their names on."

Fortunately Melissa has become accustomed to large orders from Manchester and Everton Footballers, and England players who had heard of her business and put in large orders for their childrens’ birthday parties and christenings.

Other clients have included Alderley Edge School for Girls, Ashdene Primary School and The Gentry Club Manchester.

And the chocolates clearly go down a treat judging by the amount of repeat business Melissa gets.

Before her recent big order Melissa says she has produced anything from six personalised chocolates up to 500.

She said: "Tailored Chocolates, formerly Groovychocs, started a couple of years ago after trying to think of something different to give out in my daughter’s party bags.

"I made a ‘Thank you’ chocolate for my daughter to give away to her friends, which led to lots of parents and friends asking where I got them from and if I could make some for their special occasions, whether it be a child’s birthday, anniversary, or wedding and more often now, corporate events.

"The Lavender Tree and Kit and Kaboodle have both been very supportive and have stocked Tailored Chocolates in their local shops but now I’m getting so much business that it’s getting to the stage now where my home just isn’t big enough and I might have to start looking for other premises.

"My children think it’s great and I often let them help out when there’s a particularly big order. My son especially wanted to help out with the soap awards order because he wanted to know that he’d been involved in creating the bars that would then be eaten by Fern, Philip and all the other stars."