Many of us dream about opening our own business but the idea of giving up job security and going it alone can be daunting. But as RIAH MATTHEWS finds out, it is possible to have your cake and eat it

WHEN I arrive at the Lady V cake shop I'm greeted by Victoria Rutherford – the lady herself – who has already baked three cakes, several loaves of fresh bread, a batch of muffins, a vat of soup and even popped next door to have her hair done. All before 11am.

It's her first week running the new wedding cake shop-cum-cafe, in Heathcote Street, and she's off to a storming start.

The remarkable thing about Victoria is that, as well as running the cafe and making all the cakes, she's also staying in her job as a solicitor at a city-centre law firm.

"Law can be quite cerebral and I spend a lot of time in front of a computer thinking," says Victoria. "This is entirely different and it's a creative process. I want to make completely beautiful, stylish cakes."

Victoria, from the Lace Market, has already been approached by several brides wanting her cakes and the cafe has been busy.

Victoria has spent the last four months working full-time at the law firm and refurbishing the shop unit, which was dilapidated and in need of some loving care, in her spare time. She did everything herself.

She says: "I learned to plumb. I put the sink and lavatory in. It took me two nights to get the sink to attach to the wall. It kept falling off the brackets. I was in tears and so stressed and anguished by the sink – that was a low point!"

In her opening week, she dropped her hours at the law firm to open The Lady V from Wednesday to Friday.

It is a lot to take on and her friends and family were apprehensive when she first started.

She says: "They think I've gone a bit mad! But they've also been very supportive. I've had one friend who has come here once a week, every single week to help me paint. She gets free cake for life now!"

The main focus of her shop is the wedding cakes. There's the black and white Audrey cake, a spotty cake with bows which she based on a shoe, and three, four and five-tiered cakes made with white chocolate or icing.

"This one's my favourite," she says pointing to a four-tier number with daisies up the side. Then, glancing over to another crafted out of white chocolate, she says: "I love this one too, though. Whichever one I've made recently instantly becomes my favourite but I love them all."

Victoria has made good local links, getting flowers for her cakes from Vaas, over the road.

She says: "I'm going to use the same suppliers as Iberico and get my cheese through Delilah, so it will be really good quality.

"Basically I have sourced produce through the suppliers of the places I love to eat."

After a pot of tea and lemon muffin I leave The Lady V just as Victoria opens up for the day. "All I need now are customers!" says Victoria.

I have no doubt they'll be queuing out the door when they discover Nottingham's new little gem on Heathcote Street.