A new independent food venture is set to bring fresh life to Swanage High Street in Dorset, as a popular local catering business expands with a dedicated takeaway shop.
Baked, Iced and Sliced, the latest venture from Crab Apple Catering, will officially open its doors at 9 am on Saturday 28th March 2026, having taken over the former premises of the handbag shop Pursenalities in the town centre.
A range of delicious cakes will be freshly made each day at Crab Apple
All bakes made daily at Crab Apple
The business is run by Matt and Julia Tillman, who recently stepped away from their roles at Smoke on the Water restaurant to focus fully on their growing catering company and its new High Street offering.
The new shop will specialise in freshly made sandwiches, cakes and coffee, with all baking prepared daily at Crab Apple’s main kitchen before being brought into town.
Customers can expect a range of focaccia sandwiches, bagels, homemade cakes and pastries, alongside coffee supplied by Dorset based Full Circle Coffee, which will also be available to purchase by the bag.
The move into retail has been driven partly by the loss of a major school catering contract to a national company, which would otherwise have meant redundancies at Crab Apple.
Baked, Iced and Sliced will open its doors on Saturday 28th March 2026
“We had to look to diversify”
Matt Tillman said:
“We cater for the local primary schools as Crab Apple, but our contract comes to an end in July 2026. We were encouraged to apply for the new tender, which we did, but it was set up to favour big businesses, not small independents.
“You immediately lost 30 percent of the marks if you didn’t have expensive international standard certificates – so the contract will end up going out of town to a big company, likely to be Chartwells in Bournemouth.
“We are a small local company catering for local schools and employing Swanage staff – and as we didn’t want to lose them, we had to look to diversify.
“My wife Julia and Jen Hoskins, who has worked for us since September, are both excellent pastry chefs and have both always wanted a cake shop, so when these premises came on the market just before Christmas it just happened from there.”
Matt picked up the keys to the shop from Luke Brain of Hull Gregson Hull in February 2026
Provide work for local people
Matt added:
“It’s a natural progression for us – it utilises the skills of our pastry chefs and means we can carry on employing local people.
“Part of what we want as a company is to encourage people to work within Swanage, to keep money in the town and provide work for local people rather than them having to leave.
“We are employing four new staff who are all local, including a couple of youngsters. A lot of people don’t want youngsters any more because of the minimum wage problems, where you can employ a 21 year old who has worked in the industry for years for much the same as a 16 year old who hasn’t had a job before.
“It’s not really conducive to employ teenagers any more, but they are the future, and how can they get experience if people like us are not going to give it to them?”
The new shop is decorated in fresh shades of green and pink with cabinets ready to be filled with cakes, pastries and sandwiches
“Modern and sleek in green and pink”
Matt Tillman said:
“We cannot wait to open and say hello to our new customers. Julia and I have fitted out the shop ourselves and we are delighted by how it looks.
“Everything at Crab Apple is really rustic, but Julia wanted the cake shop to be modern and sleek in greens and pinks, which make the shop look lighter and more appealing.
“What drew us to this shop is that it’s not tucked away – while we were doing the work in here, we were amazed how busy the teddy bear shop next door is, then there’s a good footfall for Love Cake and The Narrows, it’s a busy corner and should be a perfect location for us.”
Jen Hoskins has been perfecting her raspberry choux buns
Looking to cater for local offices
While there are a few seats in Baked, Iced and Sliced, it will predominantly be a takeaway shop, open daily right through the year and looking to cater for local offices and businesses.
Staff will be selling a selection of homemade cakes, bakes and slices including handmade filled doughnuts, cookies, brownies and cinnamon buns, alongside freshly made bagels and focaccia sandwiches.
There will also be a coffee machine and a range of their own milkshakes made on site using some of the ingredients in their favourite bakes, like chocolate brownie, or cookies and cream.
Local firms are invited to order their lunches in advance, so they can be picked up and ready to go without having to queue, and Baked, Iced and Sliced will also have affordable after school treats for children.
Crab Apple Catering makes their own lemon curd for the shop’s buns
“We want to make things affordable”
Matt Tillman said:
“We have sorted our energy contracts for the next three years and have managed to lock into a reasonable price contract, but the rising cost of everything is a bit of a worry.
“But it’s not just businesses which are affected by rising prices, it’s ordinary people too and we have to recognise that, and we want to make things as affordable as we can so that people can come in regularly and not see it as a luxury.
“We will have cookies and other treats which are reasonably priced, so if you are walking home from school with your kids you can still afford to buy a treat rather than it having to be an occasion, and we are trying to use as many local suppliers as possible, making the jams and curds ourselves.
“Cakes will be made fresh daily and will be seasonable, so during the summer there will be more fresh fruit used, like berry cheesecakes and Victoria sponges with fresh cream and berries, then in the winter we make the filling chocolate cakes that people want for the season.”
Matt and Julia Tillman at Smoke on the Water with Matt’s brother Jordan
New events and menus planned
Crab Apple will continue to run its popular wedding and events catering side, as well as the seasonal Burnbake Dining centre at the Corfe Castle camp site.
They will also continue to collaborate with Matt’s brother and sister, Jordan and Sarah Tillman at Smoke on the Water, where new events and menus are being planned for spring and summer, although the two businesses are now being run independently.
The High Street’s latest shop will open in time for the Easter weekend
Further information
- Follow Baked, Iced and Sliced on its Facebook page
