Member Article

Huddersfield husband and wife duo open artisan Bakehouse

A Huddersfield businessman has turned his back on a successful career in automotive manufacturing to open up an artisan bakery in the village of Farnley Tyas, Huddersfield.

Stephen Harrison and his wife Simone opened the doors to Farnley Bakehouse this weekend and welcomed local residents and business owners to the grand opening event of the artisan bakehouse.

The Bakehouse is the first of multiple ventures planned by the couple which will all champion artisan produce and sit under the umbrella brand of Farnley Market. Initially it has set created four new jobs with more planned as the business grows. The aim is to eventually include a Smokehouse and for customers to be able to purchase a larger variety of products made on site and create further jobs for local residents while supporting local food producers by selling their produce in their stores.

Stephen was co-owner and operations director of Birkby’s Plastics based in Liversedge, a plastic injection moulding company serving a wide range of sectors including automotive, electronics, and other high reliability industries.

After selling the business in 2008 Stephen joined the world of mergers and acquisitions where he teamed up with the ex-head of BDO’s North West division and became part of CHA corporate finance, a boutique corporate finance business based near Manchester.

During his time in this role, Stephen discovered his passion for real bread whilst stood in a bakery waiting for his lunch. He explains: “I saw a framed newspaper clipping on the wall which explained the difference between bread made in commercial bakeries and supermarkets compared with that made in small artisan bakeries situated around the country”.

“Moreover, this highlighted the fact that most commercial bread is packed so full of additives and other chemicals to make it perform in a high-speed production environment, that it can actually be harmful to health. What alarmed me most was the fact that none of these chemicals are required to be specified on the label because of their classification as ’processing aids”. This single event sparked an interest that has gone from a hobby to a fully fledged business.”

After experimenting with ‘proper’ bread-making at home using organic ingredients, wild yeasts and authentic recipes, Stephen completed an advanced baking course at the Artisan School of Cookery at Wellbeck in Nottinghamshire and is now looking to develop his skills further by baking real bread every day.

Simone’s career to date has been in the retail sector and she has recently graduated as a mature student with a first class BA (Hons) in Managing Performance at the University of Leeds. This has boosted her credentials to pursue her passion to be part of this exciting venture and work with the friendly Farnley Market team. Simone will not only be seen indulging customers with tempting tasters of delicious homemade baked goods but will also be organising and providing other exciting events that will be held at Farnley Market.

Speaking about the launch of the bakery Stephen says: “We are so excited to have launched this new venture in our home village. It ticks so many boxes for the both of us and we’re really looking forward to being part of the artisan food movement as it gathers real momentum against a back-drop of supermarket domination”.

The doors to the Bakehouse at Farnley Market opened to more than 200 attendees Saturday 20 September with a VIP preview event held Friday 19 September. Guests were invited to sample a variety of the baked products on offer alongside complimentary drinks and activities for the whole family to enjoy.

Trevor and Sheila Scott originally from Upperthong, near Holmfirth, attended the opening and told us “We came to view a property to rent here and discovered the Bakehouse due to open just a few steps away from the cottage we were considering calling home. The Farnley Bakehouse really was the clincher to decide to move to the village for us!”

Following the launch, the Bakehouse is now open six days a week and as well as selling daily baked fresh bread, offers a range of hand-baked pastries, cake and coffee, as well as everyday items such as milk, locally sourced free range eggs, cheeses and other dairy products and preserves.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellie MacDonald .