AN AWARD-WINNING bakery in Basingstoke is celebrating its first year in the community.
Indigo Bakes at the Courtyard, in Lychpit, is 'excited' to reach the milestone after the shop opened in March 2023.
Amanda Bowden, 42, owns the business with her husband Patrick although daughter Ivory Mclaughlin, 20, holds ‘spiritual ownership' due to her role in the business, which started as a bread-baking project in their shed.
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Amanda said: “Patrick is the baker, he used to work in construction, and would do triathlons and Iron Man competitions, then he had a huge operation on his knee, and worked in retail whilst recovering.
“Then he told me that he didn’t want to do that anymore, he said he wanted to do something different and go back to baking, which he did when he was younger.”
Patrick has an allergy to flour, which Ivory says used to force him to wear a mask whilst baking, however, he continued to bake for friends and family, before opening the shed for orders and selling baked goods at farmers markets.
“It just grew from there really, we bake the bread and pastries in Silchester, and a lot of the locals come down here (Lychpit) to support us which is nice,” Amanda continued.
The bakery also has a focus on community, hosting craft nights once a fortnight, as well as a games night, workshops and bread-making courses.
Amanda said: “The biggest thing for us is how we have become part of the community with the Cromwell next door, the foot clinic, the parish hall, and the Lychpit Residents Association planted our outdoor garden for us.
“They are all so supportive.”
Ivory, who has been helping since the age of eight, said: “A year in the bakery, I mean we’ve done everything. Rain or shine we were out in it.
“It’s amazing to go from just baking bread to now having a whole coffee shop that is ours, seeing it expand is incredible.”
The bakery was previously crowned Craft Bakers Association’s Best Bakery in Hampshire, Small Business of the Year at the Inspire Business Awards and the owner of the fourth-best croissant in the UK.
For more information on the bakery’s opening hours, visit Indigo Bakes at The Courtyard on Facebook here.
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