AN award-winning independent bakery in Saltaire is looking to expand after opening its first dedicated shop in the village.

Edward Street Bakery has moved from its old base to the former site of Saltaire Bookshop, in Myrtle Place, Saltaire Road, which closed last year.

Saltaire Bookshop owner David Ford and his partner Vanessa Pilny, the former chairman of Saltaire Village Society, sold the corner property in Saltaire Road and moved to Louth in Lincolnshire in April last year. They had run the shop since 2010.

Lisa Fraser started the independent bakery business two years ago from her home. The firm now has one full-time and two part-time employees.

She hopes the bakery’s move to the new premises will mean they will be able to open every Saturday in the next six months and also employ extra staff.

She also plans to open on Friday afternoons in the future.

The bakery does not open during the week to customers but has a number of contracts for wholesale orders with cafes and restaurants. It also sells its goods at markets including Saltaire and Ilkley and holds pop-up bakery events.

It sells items including bread, cakes and savoury goods including pizzas.

Miss Fraser said: “It’s quite exciting to move. It’s a bit nerve-racking.

“It’s good to be able to be seen in the village now. A lot of people struggled to find us before. We were almost a hidden secret and were not visible as the bakery was run from my house.

“We are really lucky to have got the shop. It is perfect for us.

“The move will help us get bigger. It is a complete move for us.

“We will look to then move production within a year, as the shop side of things takes off, as it won’t be a big enough site for the unit.

“It will also help us go to more markets in areas including Skipton.”

The company had extra cause for celebration after being named as the New Business of the Year at last week’s Telegraph & Argus Bradford Means Business Awards.

It beat competition from the Underground bar, Bradford, and Sunbridgewells, the city’s £1.9 million underground development of shops and bars, to take the prize.

Edward Street Bakery also regularly gives back to the community by supporting charity events, which have included Bliss’s work at Airedale General Hospital’s neonatal unit.

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