Routledges The Bakers has closed all seven of its stores across Carlisle, citing “relentless increases” in costs amidst declining high street footfall.
The bakery chain, which was founded by the Routledge family in 1907 and acquired by Finest Foods Group partners Matthew Harris and Tiago Alves in 2022, made the announcement on its Facebook page yesterday (30 March).
“After more than a century of serving our community, this is not something we ever thought we would have to write,” stated the post. “Since the end of 2024, we have faced relentless increases in our operational and ingredient costs.”
Routledges highlighted how its latest business rates bill had risen dramatically compared to 2025 following the removal of the 40% hospitality relief. Further hikes in minimum wages and energy prices would see its operations costs alone being over £80k higher than the previous year. “This figure doesn’t even include the rapidly rising costs of ingredients and packaging, which are once again climbing at an alarming rate,” it added.
The company had looked to reduce running costs by installing self-service kiosks at its bakery stores to avoid the need for till staff. It recently updated its shop inside The Market Hall shopping centre in Carlisle to feature the touchscreens for orders, with plans to roll out this ‘Routledges 2.0’ concept at its other sites. At the same, it passed on savings to customers by reducing prices of its most popular lines including sausage rolls, pies, filled rolls, cookies, and cakes.
However, its Facebook post yesterday revealed that 2025 had been one of the toughest years it had ever endured and, despite absorbing as much of the costs as it possibly could, “there comes a point where it is no longer sustainable”.
“We have seen a continued decline in high street footfall. The reality is that the environment for small businesses like ours has changed beyond recognition. So, with incredibly heavy hearts, we have made the decision not to face another year of rising costs and uncertainty,” said Routledges, calling it the end of a 109-year-old local institution.
British Baker has reached out to Routledges for further comment.
Most recently filed accounts for the year to 31 March 2024 showed the average number of employees at the bakery had grown to 41. It remains unclear how many have been made redundant by the business closure and what assistance they will receive, as well as what will happen to the retail shops.
Several independent bakery retail chains were forced to close last year for similar reasons, including Butterwick in Corby, Baltic Bakehouse in Liverpool, Bennetts Family Bakers in Dorset, The Almond Thief in Devon, and The Crusty Cob in Devon and Somerset.
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