Tim Goodwin wins Baker of the Year 2023

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Baker of the Year honours the impressive individuals in the UK baking industry. The winner and finalists this year were judged to exhibit exceptional practical knowledge, product quality and innovation at their respective bakery businesses.

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Winner: Tim Goodwin, The Street Bakeshop

To be named Baker of the Year is a career highlight. To win it twice in the space of three years is not just remarkable, it’s an unprecedented achievement. But that’s exactly what Tim has done, with the judges unanimous in their praise and claiming he’s come on “leaps and bounds” over the past 12 months.

“The products are just as good if not better, and the range has increased,” noted one judge, who declared Tim the producer of some of the best bakery goods they’d seen in a long time. “He is responsible for that end result. He is absolutely 100% a worthy winner.”

Since founding The Street Bakehouse in 2020 in the village of Old Basing in Hampshire, Tim has seen his attention-led approach as executive baker enjoy a slew of successes, including double honours last time out in the Craft Bakery Business Award and Team of the Year categories.

Tim reveals his passion for excellent food that people love to eat and come back for translates into his vision for the business. “Being able to consistently deliver fantastic bread, pastries and cakes time and time again, in a fast-growing and ambiguous environment, is what I strive for and am really proud of,” he comments.

In describing his average workday, Tim says he joins his production team from 6:30am, ensuring they are well motivated and aiming for “that extra level of excellence every day”. Only once the bakes are out and off for delivery does he find time to catch up on emails and work on recipe development and strategic business planning.

Light and fluffy Hazelnut Praline Panettone, and fantastically light and flakey sourdough croissants, pain au chocolate and pain au raisin, are among Tim’s best baking achievements to date – albeit taking him years to perfect.

Operating a single bakery and shop and with a workforce of 40, The Street Bakehouse is projected to hit turnover of £2m across retail and wholesale in just its third year of trading.

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Finalist: Daniel Girling, Bread Source

Having taken the reins from founder and Baker of the Year 2020 winner Steven Winter, Daniel helps manage shops in Norwich and Aylsham, which offer their range of high quality, handcrafted bread, pastry, and confectionery.

During his time at Bread Source, he has developed traditional recipes combined with modern twists, and introduced innovative flavours. For example, the Breadcrumb Infinity Sourdough and the Sprouted Spelt & Grains received Highly Commended distinctions in their respective categories at the Britain’s Best Loaf 2023 competition back in April.

Judges called Daniel a “good craftsman” and a “hands-on guy” who knows the trade, while praising his amazing new products.

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Finalist: Sandor Bagameri, Stir Bakery

Sandor is an experienced baker who has clearly made his mark on the Cambridge-based bakery since joining 18 months ago. He is said to be the driving force behind the business, steering them towards recent achievements such as category awards for their White Farmhouse Loaf at Britain’s Best Loaf 2023 and their gluten-free Smoked Beetroot & Sweet Chilli Loaf during the previous year’s competition.

Sandor was commended for playing an instrumental part in Stir’s relocation to a new state-of-the-art premises, including its layout design to allow safe production of gluten-free and vegan bakery goods. He was said to be constantly looking for ways to improve existing products – such as through new lamination techniques, revised recipes, and better ingredients – as well as finding ways to enhance operational efficiencies and bring costs down.

In leading the recruitment a new team of talented bakers, cake makers, and pastry chefs, Sandor has helped the business continue its growth ambitions, with judges also recognising the excellent quality of products at Stir.