The West Byfleet patisserie shut on 5 July after 12 years and is now in creditors' voluntary liquidation. What the record shows and what creditors do next.

Sweet Passion Cakes, the patisserie and cafe at 59 Old Woking Road in West Byfleet, has gone into creditors’ voluntary liquidation, a month after serving its final customers. The winding up was recorded in the London Gazette on 6 August, and it makes formal the closure of a shop that, in its own words, had been part of the village for more than a decade.

The company behind the shop, Sweet Passion Cakes Ltd, was wound up by special resolution at a general meeting on 30 July, according to the resolution notice in the Gazette. Andrew R Bailey and Martin C Armstrong of Turpin Barker Armstrong, an insolvency firm in Weybridge, were appointed joint liquidators the same day, appointed by both members and creditors. A virtual meeting of creditors was held at 11.15am on 30 July under section 100 of the Insolvency Act 1986, convened by director Gyopar Schwarzkopf-Erni.

A creditors’ voluntary liquidation is the route a company’s own shareholders take when it cannot carry on paying its debts: the liquidators collect what the company owns and share it out among the people it owes. It is a formal insolvency process, not a finding of wrongdoing by anyone involved.

“We fought until the very end”

The closure itself was announced by the team on the bakery’s own website, which still carries their goodbye. “After more than a decade, we have made the heartbreaking decision to close Sweet Passion Cakes,” it reads, giving 5 July as the last day of business.

The team were specific about why. “Rising business rates, soaring utility bills, increasing ingredient costs, and a lack of meaningful support for independent businesses have made it impossible for us to continue sustainably,” the announcement says. “We fought until the very end.”

Twelve years on the parade

Companies House records show Sweet Passion Cakes Ltd was incorporated on 30 January 2014, with directors Istvan Gaal and Gyopar Schwarzkopf-Erni in place from the first day to the last. The Gazette notice records the company’s business plainly as “Artisan Patisserie”.

The shop leaves with a clean record on the Food Standards Agency register, where the cafe holds the top food hygiene rating of 5, last confirmed at an inspection on 26 March 2025.

Timeline for Sweet Passion Cakes of West Byfleet: company incorporated 30 January 2014, last day of trading 5 July 2026, creditors' meeting and liquidators appointed 30 July 2026, winding-up notices published in the London Gazette 6 August 2026
Graphic by Woking Online.

What it means for you

If the company owes you money, you are a creditor, whether that is a deposit for a celebration cake, an unused gift voucher or an unpaid supplier invoice. Claims are handled by the joint liquidators at Turpin Barker Armstrong; the Gazette notice gives Thomas Capstick as the contact, on 01932 336149 or thomas.capstick@turpinba.co.uk. It costs nothing to register a claim, though in an insolvent liquidation there is no guarantee of how much, if anything, unsecured creditors receive.

For West Byfleet, the change is visible on the parade: an independent that traded through twelve years has gone. The village’s food businesses otherwise had a strong July on the hygiene register, with Cafe Joen and Pia Ristorante both keeping their top ratings.

For practical local information, see our guides to parking in Woking and Woking council tax bands.

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