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From mum’s kitchen table to bricks and mortar stores, Una Leonard shares 2210’s story
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Una Leonard set up her own business, specialty bakery 2210, at just 22 years of age. It has grown from kitchen table project to not one but two locations, and she’s also managed to author two bestselling cookbooks. She shares her journey, and the crucial tech that helped her navigate the path.
Una Leonard began baking at her mother’s kitchen table as a first step on her recovery journey. Having suffered from disordered eating, anxiety and depression, Una saw the kitchen as her safe space, where she found peace and purpose on those darker days. When her nephew requested a birthday cake that turned out picture perfect, Una uploaded a shot on social media and orders started rolling in.
In the blink of an eye, Una had set up her own business and opened the doors of 2210 at just 22 years of age. A specialty bakery and online business selling delicious baked goodies and custom celebration and wedding cakes, 2210 have just opened a second location in Powerscourt Town Centre, scaling fast.
Una is also the author of two cookbooks: Sweet Therapy: The Joy of Baking and Good Together: Delicious Recipes for the Moments That Matter.
What makes 2210 stand out from other bakeries?
I try to create space for energy and positive feelings. I think maybe people come to 2210 because it has a good vibe, a good feeling behind it. We bake everything fresh daily, with proper ingredients and as much Irish as possible, and then it’s really just about sharing and the connection and joy behind it all. I think it’s lovely, even through our online store, to be able to send goodies to your friends and family all around the country.
You only work with direct fair trade coffee roasters. Is that a priority for you and why?
It is a priority for me. When I first went into coffee, I didn’t know much about it and for the first couple of years, I couldn’t afford a coffee machine, so I didn’t serve it at all. But when we did, we actually linked up with a local business, Bell Lane Coffee. They really taught me everything about coffee, so I understood their world and what goes on there. We wanted our coffee to reflect what goes on in every other aspect of the business, to know where it comes from, how it’s sourced, and who’s behind it.
Tell us about your team and how you efficiently collaborate and communicate on a daily basis.
This starts from the minute you walk in the door. 2210 wouldn’t exist without the people who are behind us. We’ve built an incredible team over the years, and we’re still building. We have incredible bakers, baristas and an online dispatch team, as well as our office group, but communication is constant. We have great trust and respect, and we all take pride in what we do.
What role did digital tools and agility play in making your recent expansion possible?
Digital has been everything. Our online shop allows us to scale way beyond Mullingar — we’re nationwide. Especially during lockdown, delivery became not just a huge part of the business, but the business. Without the digital backbone, we wouldn’t have been able to grow the business the way we have. And now with our shop in Powerscourt and even the ordering systems to make sure that we have stock management and we know exactly what needs to be freshly baked every morning, it all comes in from a digitalised system, which is fantastic and makes my life very easy.
As an existing Vodafone for business customer, what are your favourite features they offer and how do they support you, specifically at 2210?
From the customer’s order and payments to making sure that we have fresh stock every day, communicating between all of our locations and checking in on dispatches, everything needs to be connected. We need to be connected for the whole business to run smoothly. It keeps our kitchens going, it keeps the cafe floor going, our online operations running. Vodafone WiFi supports a business and keeps it going so seamlessly. It’s the simple things.
How are you leveraging technology or digital systems to maintain quality and margins?
We use digital stock management and ordering systems to track everything. At the moment, we’re ordering for Christmas and getting our prices, because, again, we can’t sell a product unless we know what price the raw ingredients come in at, and they change quite significantly every day. Having everything digitalised gives us the data we need and how much we plan to sell. We would have a massive amount of waste if we didn’t have the data to tell us how much to project based on last year’s orders.
Looking ahead, what specific business tech tools do you feel are vital for supporting continued expansion and innovation at 2210?
Everything needs to be connected. Our retail, our online, our production, and our bakery. Private systems for team management, secure digital payment systems, cyber security — everything. We want to automate a lot more of our inventory and deliveries, so hopefully that goes well there and it’ll keep everything scaling smoothly.
As an ambitious female entrepreneur from a young age of just 21, what challenges have you faced, and what supports can empower other female entrepreneurs?
Being an ambitious female entrepreneur is one of the main challenges that I have faced. You’re constantly trying to improve yourself, trying to gain trust, learning everything the hard way. There are so many amazing supports, and meeting women in business and connecting and networking helps you realise you’re not alone.
As the ultimate multitasker, how does tech help you manage your time, collaboration, and workflow efficiently, especially as the busy holiday season approaches?
We have digital systems for staff scheduling, pre-orders, and deliveries, and it saves so much admin. It means that where I am, wherever I am, whatever I’m doing, I can keep an eye on all of those aspects of the business without even having to contact someone or check in on it.
What is next for 2210? Any sign of plans for 2026?
2026 is going to be all about growing into our new space. We want to introduce a brunch menu, and start doing pop-ups and collaborations with other amazing businesses. Everything normally happens organically, and we go with it, and if it’s the right move for us, we say ‘yes’.
Photography by Adrienne Mullen
With Vodafone, your business can work from anywhere. Visit vodafone.ie to learn more.
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