A bakery business is blooming.

Slaithwaite’s Handmade Bakery re-opened this week with a new-look kitchen in the open-plan cafe and bakery.

The popular cafe and bakery, which is run as a co-operative, closed for refurbishment.

They’ve just signed a lease for a further ten years in the canalside spot and have plans for the future.

Matt Betts said: “We’ve been here nearly six years, although the bakery has been going nearly eight years, and we’ve re-paid the ‘bread bonds’ - the money we borrowed to get up and running and had some money to re-invest.

Directors Steve Rimmer and Dave Lomax and Cook Sarah Pendle in refurbished kitchen at The Handmade Bakery & Cafe in Slaithwaite.

“We started off on a budget and the cafe has grown an incredible amount so we decided it needed an upgrade.

“The footfall and usage of the cafe has been incredible, so we wanted a kitchen that was fit for purpose.”

The open-plan nature of the cafe and bakery meant they had to close while the work took place, but they re-opened on Tuesday.

Matt added: “At some point in the future we want to invest in the front of house area, but we’ll have to wait for a suitable time to do the work.”

The Handmade Bakery is a not-for-profit artisan bakery and is run and owned as a co-operative by its members. It has more than 20 co-operative members, five bakers who serve as directors and further members running the cafe.

The Handmade Bakery & Cafe at Slaithwaite.