HER mum might call her boss, but 18-year-old Abbie Prentice is well aware her only employee is the glue which holds her fledgling chocolate business together.

Abbie, who lives with mum, Jo Constable, in Barbury Close, Moredon, moved to Swindon from her dad’s house in Kent this summer to open Chocolate Comforts, at Studley Grange Craft Village.

The business focuses on the creation of chocolate, with customers invited to make their own or request a chocolate party, which Abbie and her mum can also lead.

The teenager’s appetite for the chocolate business first developed a couple of years ago when, on trips to visit her mum and her stepdad in Swindon, they would go along with her and help with her own chocolate parties at friends’ houses.

Once she got a taste for it, Abbie set her mind to completing her A-levels and then ignoring the prospect of university in favour of pursuing her own business.

Chocolate Comforts opened up for the first time on Saturday with a staff of one – Abbie’s mum.

Abbie admits she lacks confidence for a teenage business owner and will call on Jo to keep the business steady when she hits a rough patch.

“I don’t feel confident,” she said.

“Some days I need her more than others.

“I tend to get in early in the morning to set up for the day and she will come in later that morning.

“She has a separate job (typesetting designer) as well, so when things are not going right, she’s on the phone every five minutes because I’m also asking her for advice or help.

“I don’t like it when she’s not here, sometimes.

“I need her to say ‘everything’s going to be all right’, even if it’s not going to be all right.”

When Abbie revealed her intention to set up her own business at the conclusion of her A-levels this summer, her parents agreed to release the money saved in an endowment policy they began for her at birth.

The money was used to set herself up in the craft village near Wroughton, which Abbie said meets her needs perfectly, with a client base attracted to similar ventures around her.

While she offers customers the chance to create their own chocolate, she shares the craft village with businesses which allow them to decorate cupcakes and paint their own ceramics.

Abbie is more than just enthusiastic – she is qualified.

At the end of last month, she and her mother went to Banbury and completed two courses in chocolate skills.

With her qualifications in hand and her shop set up, Abbie is happy with the decisions she has made at such a young age.

“My mum said if I wanted to do it, I should do it now,” she said. “I am living with my mum, I don’t have a house or a family to support.

“I’m not 100 per cent sure yet on how far I want to take it. I would like a couple more shops and expand it really.”