Inaugural shop ventures, second retail stores, and refurbishment of a third outlet comprise our latest round-up of new craft bakery openings.
Traybakes, doughnuts, and sourdough are among the signature bakes showcased by the businesses located across the width and breadth of the nation, including in Wales and Scotland.
You can check back on the seventh edition of our Opening Doors series, and read on to find out more about the five bakery firms recently unveiling new premises:
Edgie Eats Cake Shop & Café, Bristol
With the help of a Vacant Property Grant from Bristol City Council plus a further grant from the South Western Enterprise Fund, young female entrepreneur Hannah Egerton (aka Edgie) has been able to transform an old plant shop in the Westbury Park area of Bristol into a new bakery and café.
Egerton first started creating ‘lockdown brownie boxes’ during the pandemic, and subsequently decided to defer a Masters in Paramedic Medicine in favour of a full-time baking career. Since April 2022, she has been supplying cakes wholesale to businesses and universities in Bath and Bristol.
Success from fortnightly café pop-ups propelled 23-year-old Egerton towards setting up the new enterprise, which now employs 10 people producing and serving a range of signature cakes and bakes. The shop is aimed at being a welcoming and inclusive environment for the community, and will offer an exhibition space for local artists commission free as well as hosting various club meet-ups.
Sourdough Sophia, Islington
Following on from its lockdown foundation and first shop in Crouch End, couple Sophia and Jesse Sutton-Jones have now expanded their craft bakery business with a new production site and café on Essex Road in North London. The cosy ‘Scandi-style’ interior of the shop accommodates 20 seats inside, while there are 20 more seats outside in a tree-covered courtyard.
Sourdough is made with regeneratively-farmed wheat flour, and there are also pastries such as croissants, cruffins and the signature cross-laminated bows filled with passionfruit curd. The business employs around 30 team members, and is currently hiring for baking and packing roles, with an ambition to open ‘a few more sites over the next few years’, supplied by its new bakery.
Doughfinity, Manchester
After enjoying successive sellouts at Makers Markets in the North West over the past six months, Brazilian husband and wife team Emelyn and Rodrigo Rosa have expanded their hand-filled doughnut business out of their home kitchen and into a new commercial space.
The new bakery shop, with its space-themed decorations, is located in the Salford town of Walkden near Manchester and will allow the brand to trade to the local community while opening up opportunities for new markets, events, and wholesale customers. It is also considering small kiosks at shopping centres.
New vegan-friendly items join Doughfinity’s range including the likes of Pistachio & White Chocolate, Raspberry Jam, Strawberries & Cream, Nutella, and Black Forest doughnut varieties.
They Bake, Ayrshire
This traybake specialist is adding to its bakery shop in Ayr with a new location in nearby Prestwick. This will extend sales of its signature range of brownies, blondies, millionaire’s shortbread, tiffin, and rocky road, which are all packed or topped with branded chocolate bar inclusions.
Zoe Hunter and Amanda-Jane Rodgers, who founded the business in January 2020, have increase the team to five and will look to recruit more as they target further expansion of their wholesale customer base across the county. The design of their newest shop follows that of They Bake’s original outlet with ‘lots of classy pastel pinks, flowers and a neon sign or two’.
Pettigrew Bakeries, Cardiff
While celebrating its eighth anniversary, the artisan bakery has refurbished its shop at Cardiff’s Castle Arcade to include a new upstairs café with seating overlooking the interior of the Victorian shopping centre.
Pettigrew, which claims to be one of the pioneers of craft sourdough baking in Cardiff, now operates three outposts across the Welsh capital with a total workforce of 38 staff. It also trades at farmers markets, and supplies wholesale, with a growing range of patisserie.
It is the sister brand to Pettigrew Tea Rooms, serving afternoon teas at the Grade II-listed West Lodge in the city’s Bute Park.
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