Blackberry Bakery in Stanway, Essex, has invested around £160,000 in a revamp of its premises.

The project included a redevelopment of the store, which was completely stripped back to the walls and refurbished.

Blackberry Bakery had previously moved its production facility to a separate unit to create more space. This enabled the business to develop a café, which has been incorporated during the revamp.

“The shop we had was very outdated, and we knew we would have to do something with it at some point,” bakery manager Lukas Smolka told British Baker.

“We have new floors, ceilings and display units, and have updated most of our equipment.”

The business is still in the process of calculating the total spend on the project, but estimates it cost around £160,000. It received a £55,000 bank loan and has covered the rest with company savings.

Following the works, Smolka said the bakery was much busier than it used to be, and while it previously had one member of staff working 7am-3pm, it now requires two plus an additional member from 10am.

“The feedback has been positive, we had some small teething problems at the beginning and are still learning, but so far the success of the shop has exceeded our expectations.”