Lancashire-based Neal’s Family Bakery has won an award from dating and social networking app Bumble.

The family-run bakery won £5,000 in Bumble’s competition to support small businesses during the Covid-19 outbreak.

One of 10 winners, Neal’s Family Bakery was nominated for the Bumble Community Grant Award and chosen out of 2,500 UK applicants.

The coronavirus pandemic had led to the closure of its café, which accounted for half of its annual turnover. It had to adapt and branch out into an online ordering service for contactless collection and delivery, in order to ensure the most vulnerable members of the local community had access to its products.

“The grant is facilitating the continuance of our business during these challenging times and contributing to the cost of our online ordering and delivery service. In an effort to future-proof our business, we have invested in glass screens, in order to create individual booths in our café. This will ensure we can provide effective social distancing facilities, as and when we are permitted to open,” said Jane Neal, co-owner of Neal’s Family Bakery.

The majority of the bakery’s customer base is made up of an older demographic, who are at higher risk from the virus, it added.

People in the community spoke highly of the business and how well it served its clients and took care of its staff.

Neal’s has fostered an environment where its employees feel they can grow as individuals, creatives and a team, said a spokesperson from Bumble.

Bumble is a free, women-first social networking app, with more than 80 million users across six continents.

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