Open Bakery, a family business that has been trading in Brighton since 2011, has just been named the South East regional winner in the National Bakery Awards. Already hugely popular with locals, Open Bakery now finds itself celebrated alongside the best bakers in the country.
Owner, Justin Gourlay, explains: “We’ve never focused on competitions and awards, mostly because we want to wait until we’re absolutely perfect! So this year’s nomination to the National Bakery Awards was a surprise and an incredible boost, and especially meaningful as the award is earned on merit. To then be voted best bakery in the South East by the judges was wonderful and again a lovely surprise!”
Justin’s family has been baking in Brighton since 1997 and their shop, which they opened in 2011, is a hive of activity. He says: “Absolutely everything we make is baked or prepared fresh on the day, allowing us to keep to pure, traditional recipes. We are incredibly busy, particularly between opening at 7am and 9am, when we serve locals as well as chefs and bakers. One of the biggest challenges is keeping the queue to manageable levels, especially on Saturday mornings when it stretches down the road! We won’t be letting the award go to our heads. We’ll keep doing all the great things that led to this nomination. Our only concern is that our queues might be even longer now!”
The National Bakery Awards are open to all bakeries in the UK. Each entrant is judged by a panel of industry judges who select the County Winners. From this shortlist the best bakery for each of twelve geographical regions is selected.
Open Bakery is based in George’s Road, Kemptown. As well as the bakery on the shop floor, work goes on downstairs in their patisserie where they make and bake fresh pastries and cakes. They also have a savoury kitchen just down the road, and below that another kitchen where they make their own biscuits, jams, loaf cakes and granola. They recently launched a baking school. They take sustainability seriously, sourcing ingredients as ethically and locally as possible, making use of the wonderful local growers and producers around Brighton and Sussex.
Matthews Cotswold Flour, the UK’s leading artisan flour mill, sponsored the awards. Managing director, Bertie Matthews, comments: “We were delighted to support the National Bakery Awards as we feel it is really important to celebrate the achievements of the country’s finest bakers. We were thrilled to see that a number of the winners, including Open Bakery, use our award-winning flour. We work hard to develop a wide range of premium flours that exceed the expectations and needs of our artisan and home bakers. It is incredibly rewarding to see our ingredients play a key role in their success.”
For more information on Open Bakery visit Openbakery.co.uk or follow them on Facebook and on Instagram.
