May I first take this opportunity to welcome you to Lilibets of Paris Limited before I tell you a little about its origin and the ideas behind it. Ever since I was old enough to stand on a stool in the kitchen, I have been encouraged to bake. My first experience was my brother's Christening cake when I was aged 3 and according to my Mum, a large amount of this ended up on the kitchen surfaces - I hasten to add, I have improved considerably since then! Throughout my childhood, I have been taught by my Mum the importance of baking and cooking from scratch; this is a value which I strongly believe in. I get great satisfaction from creating a cake or a meal from the very beginning. At the age of 13, I competed in Junior Masterchef at quarter-final level having to choose and cook a two course meal - I chose Oven Baked Crispy Coated Chicken and Semolina Parfait with a fresh raspberry coulis. Throughout school, I enjoyed Home Economics, and then went on to University to study French which brought me to Paris for a year at the age of 20. Two years later after finishing my French degree, I decided to move to Paris where I worked for a prestigious International law firm as a legal secretary. It is during this period in Paris where my real passion for food began, and this passion was focused on pātisserie. I was so inspired by the culinary delights in Paris and I began spending much of my free time creating pātisserie - much of my weekends were regularly spent in the kitchen. The French have a real love for fresh produce and I had been captured by this. I took all my creations into the office and my colleagues became my 'tasting team'. They encouraged me no end and I will always be grateful for their support. This is where the idea for Lilibets of Paris pātisserie was born. From this moment on, I had many orders, and I was asked by the law firm to make the desserts for the Partner's Christmas Lunch - an honour to be asked given the number of delicious pātisseries in Paris. Since then, I have had regular cake orders for this law firm. I applied and was accepted by Le Cordon Bleu Culinary School in Paris to do the Basic and Intermediate Pātisserie Certificate Courses lasting 15 weeks. I thoroughly enjoyed these courses coming 2nd in the class and have recently fulfilled my dream of opening a French Pātisserie.