The Street Bakeshop wins Craft Bakery Business Award 2022

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This category spans the whole of Britain and celebrates craft bakeries of all sizes, whether they operate a single retail shop, multiple high street outlets or a wholesale craft bakery.

Winner: The Street Bakeshop

The Street Bakeshop is an artisan bakery based in the Hampshire village of Old Basing. Owner and head baker Tim Goodwin – last year’s Baker of the Year – had been making sourdough bread and other bakes for 15 years before he realised his dream of owning and running a bakery.

The business opened its doors in August 2020 and was quickly approached by cafes, farm shops and restaurants to set up wholesale supply arm. While this had not been in the initial plan, wholesale now makes up a third of turnover.

Goodwin employed and trained the business’ five bakers himself, with none having previous experience in artisan baking and all learning the craft from scratch at The Street Bakeshop.

The business’ vision is to create fantastic baked goods that people love to eat time and again and it is this ethos that has turned it into a destination shop. The bakery specialises in sourdough bread, sourdough viennoiserie, Danish pastries, buns and cake, and services both retail and wholesale.

Every day the team try to create something new and the most recent is Kouign Amann – a laminated dough product containing Beurre d’Isigny Ste Mere that originates from Brittany in France.

The judges described the team as highly skilled, knowledgeable, passionate and dedicated.

Finalist: Fisher and Donaldson

Founded in 1919, this business has been handed down through five generations with an uncompromising pursuit of quality and commitment to sourcing only the best ingredients. While many of the products still use time-honoured recipes, this Scottish bakery, based in St Andrews, also has its eyes firmly on the future with the recent launch of a vegan florentine and a vegan Scotch pie.

Post-Covid, the business has seen a significant increase in turnover and established a solid marketing presence with a forward-thinking use of social media. Plans include a new café and the launch of a new online shop. The judges said the business sold the best steak bridies they had ever tasted.

Finalist: La Crème Patisserie

This business, based in Wales, has four shops as well as a thriving website and delivery service. The team includes a dedicated group of confectioners and cake decorators who produce a large range of high-quality cakes, tarts and patisserie for the catering and retail sectors. It also supplies the scones for The Queen’s garden parties.

When Covid hit, the business had 15 staff and overnight lost 100% of its trade. Today, the company has doubled its pre-Covid turnover and boasts 33 staff. The judges said the product quality was faultless and the business transformation remarkable.