Keen baker Philippa Atkin applied to be a contestant on the first series of The Great British Bake-Off.

“I didn’t put too much thought into it, I just sent it off,” she said. “When I saw the show I wished that I’d tried harder. I looked at all the things they were doing and thought ‘I could do that.’

“And now I can’t go in for it.”

That’s because these days Philippa, who lives in Holywell Green near Elland, would be considered a professional baker and therefore not eligible.

Two years ago she and her 24-year-old ‘step-daughter’ Sarah Williams decided to use their joint skills – Philippa’s background in marketing and interest in cooking and Sarah’s newly-acquired degree in business management – to set up their own company producing hand-made iced biscuits.

As Sarah explains: “I’d graduated and couldn’t find any jobs that I was interested in. Philippa is an amazing cook and has always wanted to do something with cooking. I’d never iced a biscuit before but Philippa taught me and now I love what we’re doing.”

While they had found a niche for novelty biscuits (the market for cupcakes having been over-exploited), Philippa knew they would need an edge, or lots of them, to build up their business. Their first stroke of genius was to research a proven biscuit recipe, one that had a story behind it.

“We developed it from a set of 1908 cookbooks that I found at auction,” said Philippa, 48, “We used a recipe from volume three of The Modern Baker, Confectioner and Caterer and just gave it a few tweaks.” (They also have a gluten-free version).

Then they needed a name that would be catchy and yet have some meaning for them. They hit on Dottie Biscuit, which is the nickname Philippa’s partner David Williams had given to their Jack Russell pup Dottie because he said she smelled ‘like biscuits’.

And having produced their first batches of biscuits in Philippa’s farmhouse kitchen, where they still work, the women embarked on a tireless campaign to market their products, using both old and new technology.

Sarah Williams and Philippa Atkin of Dottie's Biscuits at home in Holywell Green
Sarah Williams and Philippa Atkin of Dottie's Biscuits at home in Holywell Green

They were so successful even after the first year that they picked up an award for Best New Business from Deliciouslyyorkshire.

Today Dottie Biscuits leave the farmhouse in their thousands each month, bound for farm shops, delicatessens, corporate customers, and cafes all over the country and as far north as Orkney. They also supply biscuits as wedding favours.

The company’s biggest customer is the Westmorland group of motorway service station farm shops and it is rapidly outgrowing the title of a cottage industry.

Philippa and Sarah say they will soon have to look for larger production premises.

One of the biggest drivers of their business has, perhaps not surprisingly, been the internet. Sarah, who began her degree at Huddersfield University back in 2009, says that internet marketing through social media was included in her course and believes it will become even more important in years to come.

“There was a full module,” explained Sarah, “and they put on extra sessions at lunchtime. Personally, I spent a lot of time researching it and my dissertation was on how important social media is for business.

“Twitter is very big for us, we have in excess of 1,000 followers and it’s how a lot of our business customers find us, while Facebook is more for reviews of our products and what people think about them.”

But they don’t just rely on digital media.

Philippa added: “We are very proactive in terms of marketing. We don’t do mail shots, we do biscuit shots and send out biscuits with a message on them.

“When we follow up and phone a shop they always know who we are straight away. Everyone likes to get a lovely biscuit.”

Dottie Biscuits sell for around £2.75 a throw and the company’s best sellers are animal-shaped. They’ve even made animal biscuits for Chester Zoo.

Philippa Atkin (left) and Sarah Williams, of Dottie Biscuits at Great Yorkshire Show 2015

Sarah acknowledges that at such a price point their biscuits are a luxury item but says when they take them to fairs and shows – they did the Yorkshire Show this summer – the products are always greeted with smiles.

“We call ours a happy business,” says Philippa”, and it makes us happy too. Baking is something creative, it’s a form of alchemy turning butter, sugar, flour and eggs into something fantastic.

“It’s an expression of our creativity and while hard work can be relaxing at the same time – although Philippa does get repetitive strain from doing all the icing when we’ve got a big order.”

When she’s not baking for Dottie Biscuit, Philippa is an enthusiastic member of a new Women’s Institute group based in Sowood that has attracted members from Huddersfield, Elland, Brighouse and Halifax. Her considerable marketing skills have helped the group, founded just a year ago, become Yorkshire’s fastest-growing WI with 82 members. It is one of the new wave of ‘young’ WIs that are taking the organisation into its second centenary.

“We call ourselves the Babes in the Wood,” said Philippa, “and we have done everything from clay pigeon shooting and burlesque to the traditional cooking, baking and crafting. We even have an allotment.”

The group is holding a celebratory first birthday hand-made craft market and tea shop – at which Dottie Biscuit will no doubt make an appearance – on Saturday, October 24, in Sowood Community Centre.