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Please Help Save Bread Ahead at Borough Market
Matthew Jones, Bread Ahead Founder: “Apparently, we’ve become too successful for Borough Market.”
I never thought I would have to write something like this.
In 2013, I started Bread Ahead at Borough Market with a small market stall, three products and a lot of hard work.
There was no big investment behind me. No corporate backing. Just an idea I believed in, a love of baking and a determination to make it work.
Borough Market gave us our start. It became our home. It is where Bread Ahead grew up.
From that tiny stall, we built a bakery, a baking school and a community. We taught tens of thousands of people to bake, created jobs and, eventually, grew beyond London into an international business.
I am incredibly proud of that.
But now we have been told that Bread Ahead has become too successful, and that our international growth means Borough Market will not renew our lease.
I honestly never imagined that being successful could put our home at risk.
But perhaps the hardest part of all is the uncertainty. Running a business is challenging enough in the current climate without being left not knowing what the future holds for your team, your business and the place you call home.
Bread Ahead has loved being part of Borough Market from the very beginning. We have supported its community, celebrated its traditions and been proud to play our part in the life of the market. We were particularly proud to take part in the recent Lammas Day celebrations at Southwark Cathedral, celebrating the harvest and the community at the heart of Borough.
And that is why this is so difficult to understand.
Our growth hasn't changed who we are.
We haven't been bought by a multinational. We haven't become a faceless chain. We are still founder-led. We still bake, we still teach, we still employ people and we still have our roots firmly planted in Borough Market.
Yes, we have grown.
But surely that should be something to celebrate, not a reason to ask us to leave.
I have spent 40 years building my business. I have worked incredibly hard, taken risks and put everything into creating something I am proud of.
I don't want a war with Borough Market.
I want them to listen.
I want them to remember the little bakery that started with a market stall and recognise what it has become.
Because for me, this isn't simply about a lease.
Borough Market is home.
It is where Bread Ahead began, and we want to stay.
So we will defend our position in every way we can to protect our staff, our business and the community we have built.
We started with a little stall at Borough Market. We built Bread Ahead from there. Now we need your help to stay.
If you believe Bread Ahead should stay at Borough Market, please share this post, tag Borough Market and help us spread the word.
Please Help Save Bread Ahead at Borough Market.
Tag @boroughmarket with #SaveBreadAhead
www.breadahead.com
www.instagram.com/breadaheadbakery
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