Take a look at new ‘lovely’ micro bakery to open this week in Daventry town centre

Ben Welch, from Daventry, recently signed the lease for a unit in High Street formerly occupied by the beauty salon Spoil Moi.

The father of two has been operating a home-based bakery since June 2023 and is presently employed as an artisan baker three days a week at the MOR bakery in Stratford-upon-Avon.

He said: “It's looking pretty much how I wanted, and yeah, it was stressful for the last month and a half, but I probably wouldn't really change it. It's quite a journey just to even get to this stage now.

“I’m going through every emotion you can think of, really like butterflies in the stomach, keeping the dark thoughts at bay, you know, trying to think positively.”

Ben, owner of Baker Benjy, said he has always loved to bake. The 30-year-old man’s baked goods are already well known in the community, with Ben attending various events throughout the years.

“You learn as you go. You learn a lot from each market and each event, like what you need to bring or what sells, what doesn't sell, that sort of thing.

“It just got bigger and bigger, and markets grew and grew, and customer bases just got bigger as well,” said Ben.

The baker said his landlord asked him to move the business because he was using "too much" power and equipment at the same time, forcing him to put a halt to his home baking back in July.

On July 30, he posted on Facebook, requesting assistance from the public in finding a new location for his business.

“I wasn't planning on opening the shop,” said Ben.

Ben discovered that the unit at 42a High Street was available in the middle of August, and on September 1st he collected the keys and started renting it.

He has been painting the shop, hanging the signs, and bringing in a counter, coffee and other supplies, a fridge, a double sink, and a metal table at the location for the past month.

Ben did run into a number of problems, including two faulty items that he had to purchase again: a coffee machine that "came in pieces" and a mixer that never worked.

“It's so much stress,” said Ben.

A local woman set up a GoFundMe page, and people donated £460 to assist Ben in purchasing a new mixer.

“I couldn't help but shed a tear, really. It was quite emotional that people—strangers, you know—would actually happily lend money towards this. Now this bakery feels like it's part of Daventry. It was very emotional. It was lovely,” said Ben.

The Baker Benjy bakery is set to open on Friday, October 4, offering coffee, sourdough bread, and a variety of pastries and cakes.

“Come on down. There'll be plenty of products. Fresh coffee as well. Hopefully smiley faces if everything goes fine. It would be lovely,” said Ben.

The shop will be open every Friday and Saturday from 8am to 2pm and on Sunday from 10am to 1pm.

Ben hopes to be able to operate the shop full-time, add more items, and hold baking workshops as the business expands.

“I want to have a lovely microbakery,” said Ben.