Award-winning artisan bakery De Gustibus is closing its shop in Marylebone after being stung by a 40% rent increase.
Its two other London shops in St Paul’s and Borough Market will remain open, said founder Dan De Gustibus, who vowed to go "back to basics" and regroup the business. He said: "It was a nice shop and we’ve served many lovely people there in 15 years of trading, but rent is a big part of our costs £21,000 for this store and you just have to move away from high-rent shops."
The former Baking Industry Awards winner suffered a fire at its Oxfordshire bakery two years ago, which De Gustibus said had hit the company hard. "Rebuilding the factory wasn’t easy and we had some set-backs as the gas wasn’t connected for seven months. We were hit financially and are just coming out of that now."
De Gustibus added that he was confident UK consumers would continue to seek out artisan breads, perhaps in new retail environments such as village stores. "People are coming back to taste and quality. I’m now going to regroup and I’ll be looking at new products, particularly sourdoughs."
Apart from its three London shops, it also supplies restaurants and hotels.
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