STORY: National Bakery of the Year Burns the Bread delivers ‘first baking apprenticeship in South West’

Strode College in Somerset has collaborated with National Bakery of the Year, Burns the Bread, to establish what it believes to be the first baking apprenticeship in the South West. 

Strode College says it is working in partnership with Dave Lovett, operations manager at Burns the Bread: “This partnership and apprenticeship will enable structured and high quality bakery training for young people and help Burns the Bread achieve its dream of boosting the number of skilled bakers in the region.” 

Bob Burns of Burns the Bread added: “For me this business has never been just focused on profit; it has always been about sharing my baking passion with my family and the community.  

We initially thought about offering a ‘Burns the Bread apprenticeship’, training students to our own industry standard. However, working with the Ofsted Outstanding Strode College has presented the perfect opportunity to work in partnership to deliver this apprenticeship with a team who share our passion and desire to recruit more baking trainees. As a former apprentice myself I have always advocated the provision of such training for young aspiring bakers.”

Mr Burns started his bakery career in the 1960’s as an apprentice at Hayman’s Bakery, in the village of Ilton, near Ilminster whilst attending Taunton Technical College on a day release scheme. When he took over the two hundred year old Glastonbury bakery in 1983 and established Burns the Bread. 

Strode College currently have four apprentices on the programme, with a further two about to join. They are completing the qualification by attending Burns the Bread’s new training centre one day a week to undertake training with Paul Bentley (Strode College’s Lead Hospitality Trainer & Assessor) and Henry Jeffries (craft baker from Burns the Bread). 

They will deliver the full bakery apprenticeship then set a structured homework programme to support the coursework with regular on-site visits.

Indy Bonome, 17, The Wobbly Cottage Bakery, Broadwindsor: “I wasn’t good at school, so this apprenticeship option is perfect for me, as it provides me with more hands on experience, which I find I also learn better from. I hope to go on to have a career in baking, and so this is all good practice.”

Gemma Dyer, 17: “I already work at the Burns the Bread branch in Glastonbury high street. I have found this pathway to be a good opportunity and it gives me the chance to learn something I wouldn’t learn elsewhere. I am really enjoying my apprenticeship so far and so looking to carry it forward with a career in baking in the future. I have always been interested in nutrition and a lot of the theory learning involved in this apprenticeship covers what I’m interested in.”

Chris Silvester, 38:  “I worked as a civil servant in employment law for 13 years, but wanted a career change with something more practical. I have always enjoyed baking too, so found this apprenticeship a great opportunity for a change in direction. I work here at Burns the Bread whilst undertaking this apprenticeship. It is very satisfying and I am enjoying it so far. I wanted a solid qualification and the chance to do something properly that can transfer anywhere afterwards. I prefer the more hands-on learning and with the shifts being 4.30am – 12.30pm, it allows me more time for family commitments and therefore a nicer work- life balance.”

Sam Bond, 25, Endacotts Bakery: “I’ve baked my whole life and spent the last two years looking for a decent course to get the recognised qualification for a career in baking. I found other courses but they were not as beneficial, as they appeared to be generic catering courses and I wanted to learn about baking, so that’s why this apprenticeship seemed the perfect fit for me. I found this opportunity online and it is definitely worth the travel as it lives up to my expectations of what I learn at the bakery and at the College. I have been working at Endacott Bakery for two years now and they are supportive of me doing this apprenticeship. I hope to get the qualifications to move up into a baking career full- time and once I have completed the apprenticeship, it will also benefit the company too.”