First-time shops for a half dozen craft bakery businesses make up our latest round-up of new openings.
Bakewell tarts, meringue croissants, loaded cookies, meat & potato pies, bespoke birthday cakes, and rye bread are among the offerings at these new establishments.
This is the seventh batch in our Opening Doors series (look back on the sixth edition here). Let’s find out more about the six new additions to the UK’s craft bakery scene:
Bread Bin, Altrincham
Based in a new residential development with the aim of becoming the neighbourhood bakery, Bread Bin opened late last year and is said to have been collecting five-star reviews ever since for its offerings, particularly its viennoiserie made with Wildfarmed flour. Customers can view these made from scratch via a window into the air-conditioned pastry room.
Other signature products created at the 1,200 sq ft bakery shop include sourdough loaves and long-fermented baguettes, ciabatta and focaccia, as well as a changing range of pastries, cakes, tarts, cookies, and freshly made sandwiches. Morning buns, almond croissants and Bakewell tarts have emerged as “clear winners” in terms of bestsellers.
Bread Bin is the first bakery business of Lisa Bindahnee, who switched from a 30-year career as a media lawyer specialising in television and running a music education company. The bakery currently employs three full-time staff and four part-timers but will look to recruit more should there be increased demand for its products.
Astrid Bakery, London
Former fashion journalist Charlotte O’Kelly retrained in boulangerie at Le Cordon Bleu culinary school in London before founding her small batch artisan bakery almost three years ago. Astrid is now making the transition from a delivery-only business to open its first shop, a ‘titchy’ 400 sq ft space in Muswell Hill expected to start trading out of in late spring.
The new bakery will continue to offer Astrid’s luxury Breakfast Boxes – a rotating selection of breads, pastries, and cakes available for pre-order – along with celebration cakes, gift boxed viennoiserie, sandwiches, savoury pastries, and hot drinks. Signature bakes include classic cinnamon buns, pistachio croissants, and seasonal fruit Danish, while O’Kelly notes a “devoted local following” for the likes of her passion fruit meringue croissant, Italian Hot Chocolate Cruffin, and stripy chocolatine.
“We are so excited to meet all our customers in person and to have this new location at the heart of our local community, to offer something joyous and special,” O’Kelly added.
Chunk Cookies, Leeds
Another online bakery brand launching its first physical location is Chunk, which specialises in vegan New York-style loaded cookies. Amy Bennett first started making cookies with her partner Diego whilst stuck at her mum’s house in rural Lincolnshire during lockdown in 2020. The business began trading a few months later, delivering cookies by bicycle to fellow Leeds University students.
Looking to maintain the home-baked quality of its products that proved so popular, Chunk has now opened a shop in the Leeds suburb of Burley, offering a range baked fresh daily in-store. It also sells cakes, pastries, and bread sourced from another local bakery.
“We cater for the allergy conscious, eco conscious, or those just wanting to eat delicious cookies and make a positive impact,” noted Bennett, who graduated with a degree in Sustainability. With five staff running production and retail, Chunk plans to expand its daytime food offerings and host workshops, dinner evenings, and wine nights.
Pimblett’s, St Helens
Following its rebranding from Pimmies Pies to Pimblett’s in 2021 – a nod back to the original J Pimblett & Sons bakery, which closed in 2008 – this first ‘official’ shop for the business is a refurbishment of the same Boundary Road location as its previous pop-up store.
Owner Ryan Little said his new shop aims to make Pimblett’s products more accessible to its existing customer base, while attracting more local business and a younger generation who haven’t tried them before. Its bakery range includes the bestselling meat & potato pies and vanilla slices, along with sweet and savoury bakes, cakes and sandwiches.
Pimblett’s operates a main production site across town on Jackson Street, from where it supplies wholesale to local businesses and also sells directly to the public, as well as running a Friday market stall. Future plans include another store in St Helens town centre.
Moo’s Cakes, Lowestoft
While not exactly a shop, the newly converted production space for the celebration cake specialist is trialling a monthly pop-up counter for customers to visit. Founder Molly Davison recently made the move to the site in the Lowestoft suburb of Oulton Broad after outgrowing her home kitchen, where she had been creating sweet treats for the past two years.
Davison claims ‘everything Kinder flavour’ is what sells best at trade shows and events including cookies, brownies, and cupcakes. However, her main source of income is bespoke celebration cakes for occasions such as birthdays, Christenings, and baby showers.
As the sole employee at Moo’s Cakes, Davison said she is happy with what she has done so far, with an eye on further expansion into a dedicated retail space should her business continue to grow over the next couple of years.
Quince Bakery, London
Opening its doors over the weekend just gone, this new bakery in Islington is named after the fruit that fascinates founder Anna Higham, a former executive pastry chef at The River Café in Hammersmith. “The quince is very British, which I really love,” she said “The fruit is kind of old fashioned and unusual. These are things I want to explore in the bakery.”
Higham said she sees untapped potential in integrating her learnings into the rich tapestry of British baking traditions. Quince’s core products centre around using British flour with a short supply chain, ensuring fully traceable and ethically sourced ingredients.
The bread selection includes country loaves, wholegrain miche, rustic baguettes, and unique offerings like quince and buttermilk rye bread. Higham’s signature bakes, meanwhile, are yeasted buns, hand pies, cakes, cookies, and rice pudding tarts.
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