Every day she is surrounded by chocolates and sweets of every kind as she runs The Chocolate Box at Blakemere Craft Centre.

"I've been in chocolate since I left school," said the 49-year-old.

"After leaving at the age of 15 I went and worked in a chocolate shop in Manchester.

"I suppose a lot of people do wish they could work as close to chocolate as me."

Margaret, who lives in Sandiway, has run the shop since it opened four years ago.

It is owned by Charles Hardy who works at the business' base in Tarporley. Like Margaret, he is not new to the industry.

His grandfather got involved in chocolate manufacturing in the 1920's and he took on the family tradition during the 1970's.

"I think there's a universal attraction to chocolate, confectionary and all things sweet," he said.

"We make quite a lot of the products we sell like fudge and chocolate, complemented with a range of traditional confectionary like pear drops and aniseed balls.

"We also use pure chocolate.

"We don't use chocolate with any vegetable fats.

"The thing that's staggering is that when all manner of confectionary products are brought out, the children still look for the traditional items."

The firm's Blakemere branch has been open as long as the craft centre itself, selling chocolate under the Freudenberg name.

And Mr Hardy, 40, recently expanded his business when he took over the ice cream, biscuit and preserve stall previously run by the centre's owners.

"We thought it was fitting to take on a stall selling home-made products," he said. "We wanted to try and keep the spirit of the craft centre.

Another advantage the business has over bigger concerns is that groups can actually watch chocolate being made.

"I have an excellent staff but I do make some of the product when I have groups in," added Mr Hardy.

"Groups can even come in and make product with us as long as they book."

And as for the company's top sellers: "At Blakemere the chocolate animals are very popular, followed by fudge and our continental chocolates," said Mr Hardy.

And Margaret's favourite nibble: "The Swiss truffles are sensational," she said.

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