Northwest sourdough specialists named Britain’s Best Bakery two years in a row

Cumbria & Manchester’s Lovingly Artisan Bakery has been named as the top bakery in Britain for the second year on the bounce.

The accolade was awarded by at the 2024 Bakers’ Dozen, which lists the best artisan bakeries in Britain, as voted for by over 100 specialists from artisan bakers, suppliers, consultants and lecturers.

The Bakers’ Dozen was revealed on Tue 30 Jan at the second-ever meeting of The Artisan Collective, an initiative created by British Baker, a leading source of information for the baking industry, to celebrate artisan bakeries and the people behind them while offering a platform to facilitate conversations and share skills.

More than 100 specialists were asked to vote for their favourite artisan bakeries. Each voter was hand-selected by British Baker with the voters broken down by region to ensure bakeries across Britain had an equal opportunity to shine.

Aidan Monks and Catherine Connor, the owners of Lovingly Artisan Bakery said: ‘’Winning top spot in the Bakers’ Dozen last year was amazing. To win it for the second year in a row hasn’t really sunk in. We’re thrilled to be included in the top 13, but being voted the UK’s number one artisan bakery is the cherry on top, especially knowing that our industry peers have voted for us.

“Hopefully everything that we try to do day in day out for our customers has struck a chord and has begun to influence more and more artisan bakeries up and down the country to put quality, wholesome, healthy breads at the heart of every family table again.’’

An artisan bakery is where baked goods – such as sourdough, bread, buns, pastries, and cakes and more – are made by skilled bakers by hand, often utilising longer and more traditional processes. Quality of ingredients and the end products are prioritised, and as a result, artisan bakeries typically only have a handful of sites.

The full 2024 Bakers’ Dozen list:

1. Lovingly Artisan, Cumbria
2. Bread Source, Norfolk
3. The Dusty Knuckle, London
4. Northern Rye, Newcastle upon Tyne
5. Farro, Bristol
6. The Street Bakeshop, Basingstoke
7. Toad, London
8. Poppyseed Bakery, Eastbourne
9. Bostock Bakery, Berwick
10. Stir Bakery, Cambridge
11. Arôme, London
12. Pollen, Manchester
13. Cottonrake Bakery, Glasgow

You can find Lovingly Artisan at both their Lake District headquarters, or a little closer to home at Altrincham Market.