Meet the sisters who got dumped by their landlords and were down to their last £15,000 before they built an £8 million business
Sisters Annabel and Emily Lui transformed their struggling bakery side hustle into an £8 million business after facing significant financial setbacks. Despite initial rejection from major retailers, they bootstrapped their company, Cutter & Squidge, into a successful brand with over 50 employees.
Why it matters
This story highlights the resilience required in entrepreneurship and the potential for bootstrapped businesses to scale successfully despite early failures.
In 2014, Annabel, 40, and Emily Lui, 47, were down to their last £15,000 after a promising start to their bakery side hustle suddenly fell apart. The British sisters had built Cutter & Squidge in 2012 around their signature Biskies and landed accounts with two of London’s biggest department stores, but just as they hired a small team, rented production space and bought a van to support the business, both retailers pulled back. Harrods decided cupcakes were selling better, while Selfridges pulled the plug on Cutter & Squidge’s pop-up, wiping out almost all of the sisters’ income.
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