Finalists for 2025 Craft Bakery Business of the Year unveiled

A Belfast-based cake specialist, heritage family-run craft bakery, and a hidden gem are among the six businesses shortlisted for Craft Bakery Business of the Year.

Sponsored by Dawn Foods, the category seeks to reward bakeries producing craft, handmade, or bespoke items with a successful business model and well-trained staff. Judges spent several weeks travelling across the UK to visit candidates for this category, meeting the teams, getting behind the scenes, and sampling products to find those worthy of finalist status.

Here are the six businesses in the running to lift the trophy at the 2025 Baking Industry Awards:

Biscuiteers

Biscuiteers describes itself as an ‘artisan business at scale’ producing unique iced biscuits from the affectionately named Ministry of Biscuits in southwest London. Here the team hand decorates biscuits, including bespoke orders, as well as a range of celebration cakes and other baked goods such as brownies and macarons. It also operates a boutique in Notting Hill, London.

In FY24 Biscuiteers achieved its highest sales revenue to date (£11.4m) from which it said it is entering an ‘ambitious new growth phase’ with a newly appointed CEO and a clear strategy to scale to £20m turnover by FY28. This growth will be supported by strategic partnerships with major retailers, expansion into high-footfall transport hubs, and continued product innovation.

Recent innovation has leaned heavily on on-trend licences, such as Bridgerton, with hand-iced brownies, a Vase of Flowers biscuit, and more 3D DIY options added to the range.

“Biscuiteers has an impressive number of skilled employees and are combining them with a good use of technology to improve efficiency,” noted the judges. “The products and packaging are beautiful, which really helps them to shine in the gifting market.”

Coopland & Son (Scarborough)

Cooplands said it is on a mission to exceed customer expectations with ‘freshly made food and good honest value’. The business operates 154 shops spread along the northeast coast, serving up a wide range of pies, pasties, hand-finished sweet treats, and sandwiches. The shops span small village bakery stores to grab-and-go sites, as well as larger café operations on retail parks. All of these are serviced by two production facilities in Scarborough and Durham.

Over the past year it has rolled out 36 new products and tweaked the recipes of many more as it looks to improve and reformulate lines. The product team is headed up by Emily Anderson (who is among the finalists for the Rising Star Award) with notable recent launches including the nostalgia-inducing Cornflake Tart with a jam or golden syrup base, while the ‘Cookie Monster’ cookies have been adapted for seasonal occasions including Easter and Christmas.

To help upskill staff, Cooplands has an in-house bakery trainer who works with site managers to determine skill and knowledge gaps, and then deliver courses designed around these.

“Cooplands is utilising seasonal NPD and a range of deal and loyalty programmes to keep their customers engaged, and this is paying off for the business,” according to the judges. They also praised the diversification in estate, and upgrade of several shops.

Dougies Goodies

Northern Irish firm Dougies Goodies is looking to ‘pink up the world, one layer at a time’. It is certainly making its mark on the bakery scene with bright pink branding and an equally colourful array of cakes and sweet treats. The business currently operates two retail locations – in Ballymena and Belfast – and also supplies a growing array of wholesale customers including Spar and Nisa convenience stores and other local supermarkets.

This vision is reaping rewards for the business with sales more than doubling over the past year. Nevertheless, Dougies Goodies has big ambitions with plans for more stores as it aims to move into Ireland and across the UK. Frank Warwick and his wife Georgina are the driving forces behind this. They purchased the business from founder Douglas Coulter in 2022, although ‘Dougie’ can still be found behind the scenes in the bakery.

Product highlights include Pineapple Tarts, Iced Diamonds, Pink Fancies, Jammie Dougies covered in pink icing and coconut, and Cake Pots made using offcuts and frosting.

“The team spirit oozed out of Dougies Goodies and could be felt both in front of and behind the scenes,” enthused the judges. “They know their customer base and have a clear strategy for delivering growth with excellent products for their price point,” the panel added.

Grant’s Bakery

Grants Bakery knows a thing or two about being an excellent craft bakery. After all, it took home the trophy at the 2020 Baking Industry Awards and is now back for a shot at another one.

Led by Andrew Cotterell, this family-owned business is based in the heritage village of Corbridge, Northumberland from which it serves around 2,700 customers a week. What was previously an award-winning bakery shop is now a bustling café with indoor and outdoor seating, an expanded sandwich preparation kitchen, a dedicated office and a new storage area. This has allowed Grants to increase its customer capacity and extend its range across savouries, seasonal afternoon teas, patisserie, continental breads, and even ice cream.

Production is handled by a team of seven bakers at a unit up the road at Vallum Farm where they mix, laminate, shape, hand-pipe, decorate and present everything by hand. ‘No corners are cut’, asserts Cotterell. Proven favourites include the Tipsy Cake (also known as Russian Cake) which is made with Madeira cake, rum-flavoured raspberry preserve, and fondant icing. The towering Peach Melbas and meaty sausage rolls also found favour with the judges, while the relatively new viennoiserie range draws in customers.

“An absolutely delightful bakery to visit,” beamed the judges. “The display, which is visible the second you walk through the doors, is so inviting and the products really deliver on quality and taste with very generous portions.”

Lovingly Artisan

A finalist in this category last year, Lovingly Artisan has made some “impressive progress” over the past 12 months. One of its standout achievements is the opening of an in-house mill at its Burneside site. Here the business mills rye grown in Eden Valley as part of a collaboration with fellow Cumbrian business Eden Yard, with the milled grain used in a new Cumbrian Wholegrain Loaf.

At the helm are reigning Baker of the Year Aidan Monks and his wife Catherine Connor, although the team has expanded significantly as demand for its sourdough loaves and artisanal pastries grows.

Lovingly Artisan’s ethos remains the same though – to create loaves worthy of being at the centre of the table. This means sticking to its three commitments: natural ingredients (which are ultra-process free and organic where possible), made with love, and shared with folk who care.

The award-winning Dark Chocolate Malt & Orange loaf, flapjack, and Bliss-cuts were particular highlights for the judging panel. They also praised the business’ “careful consideration of their place in the supply chain as they look to drive real change for their customers and the wider industry”.

“Lovingly Artisan has really driven things forward over the last year with highlights including the opening of the mill, extending the product range, and continued training for the team which has also expanded dramatically,” commented the judging panel.

The Tiny Bakery

This “hidden gem” of a bakery is nestled in a bustling suburb of Leicester. Living up to its name, The Tiny Bakery has one retail location and a small production kitchen behind it. Led by Lindsay Abraham and her all-female team of bakers, the business aims to make the “best products with the best ingredients” whilst also experimenting with new products and having fun.

Alongside a wide range of hot and cold beverages, the bakery serves up fresh sourdough, handcrafted viennoiserie, traybakes, cookies, savoury pastries, and vegan baked goods. Weekend and monthly specials bring the fun, with a Strawberry Shortbread Croissant filled with mascarpone cream and strawberry gel, and a Rose & Pistachio Twist among recent innovations. The Easter Cruffin was another great example – it had a crème egg baked inside, and was topped with marshmallow fluff, and a ‘nest’ of kataifa pastry, milk chocolate, and mini eggs for the final flourish.

The products are definitely living up to expectations as the judges praised the “fantastic” viennoiserie on offer, with the Pain Suisse of particular note.

“A fantastic array of products, especially considering the small production and retail space the team are working with,” beamed the judges. “It’s a community focused bakery and this shone through at the visit, from the queue of happy customers out the door to the range of products available,” they added, highlighting the £1 iced buns as an example of this.

Join us for a night of celebration

The winners will be revealed at a black-tie ceremony on Thursday 23 October 2025 at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London. The ceremony will be hosted by a yet-to-be-revealed celebrity guest.

Tickets for the awards are available now via the Baking Industry Awards website. Individual tickets cost £350+VAT and a table of 10 costs £3,325+VAT.

The event includes a dazzling drinks reception, a three-course dinner with wine and coffee, and an afterparty complete with snacks and entertainment to help you celebrate into the early morning.

Get your tickets here: https://bakeryawards.co.uk/live/en/page/attend