01Move
DNA dimensions
Sell-through by noon %, wholesale account count, average basket, flour cost variance, Google review velocity, early-morning footfall.
All playbooksSmall business
Local bakery playbook.
Independent UK bakeries running sourdough, viennoiserie and morning trade. The win is selling 90% of bake by noon, building a wholesale subscriber base and protecting flour margin against grain market swings.
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Reference fit-out · Local bakery
Overview
A UK craft bakery makes the bake the night before and the money in the morning. With sourdough at ~24h fermentation, your decisions on Tuesday afternoon determine Wednesday's profit. The structural advantage independent bakeries have over supermarkets is freshness and provenance — but only if you sell 90%+ of bake before stale. This playbook covers oven sizing, council registration, wholesale pricing and the realistic ramp from kitchen-only to retail counter.
94% by 3pm
Sell-through target
35–55%
Wholesale share
12–16% rev
Flour cost
What you'll need
Equipment list with real 2026 UK prices.
Sized for a 2–4 chair shop. Buy mid-range on chairs and clippers; cheap kit fails inside 12 months and walks away with your barbers.
01
Bakery production
Deck oven (3-deck, stone hearth)
Tom Chandley / Bongard, 32 trays/cycle
£18,000–£42,000
The single biggest capex decision. Used market is healthy at 40–60% discount.
Spiral mixer (60kg dough)
Esmach / Sottoriva
£6,500–£14,000
Dough divider + moulder
£3,500–£9,500
Retarder-prover (double door)
Programmable cold + steam
£4,500–£11,000
Stainless prep tables × 3
£1,200–£2,800
Linen-lined bannetons (× 80)
£480
02
Ingredients sourcing (opening)
Heritage flour (Gilchesters / Wildfarmed)
Strong white + wholemeal + rye
£1.20–£1.60/kg, 200kg/week
Sea salt (Maldon / Halen Môn)
£3.20/kg
Cultured butter (Netherend / Brue Valley)
£8–£12/kg, 30kg/week for viennoiserie
French viennoiserie chocolate (Cacao Barry)
£14/kg
Mother starter (your own, no purchase)
£0 + daily feed
03
Retail front
Glass display counter + wooden shelves
£2,400–£6,500
Square iPad POS + card reader
£59 + 1.4%
Bread slicer (commercial)
£900–£2,200
Paper bags + window boxes (printed)
£420 first run, £180/month
Chalkboard menu + window vinyl
£280–£640
04
Cold chain & storage
Walk-in cold room (6m³, dough storage)
£4,500–£9,000
Upright freezer (viennoiserie blanks)
£900–£1,800
Dry store shelving (food-grade)
£480–£1,200
Where to set up
Location is half the business.
Foot traffic 6am–11am
≥ 1,500
75% of retail revenue happens before noon — measure the morning, not the day.
Adjacent commuter route
Within 250m of rail or main bus route
Morning footfall correlates almost perfectly with transit proximity.
Ground-floor unit with extraction route
Roof or rear flue path
Ovens need certified extraction; first-floor units are non-starters.
Loading bay or delivery window
Side door + curbside 6am–8am
Wholesale deliveries need predictable access without PCN risk.
Three-phase power
63A 3-phase available
Deck oven + spiral mixer + retarder pull 30kW+ — domestic supply will trip.
Area tier
Rent / month
Notes
London Zone 2 (Peckham, Hackney)
£3,800–£7,200
Premium £4.50 sourdough, strong wholesale to local cafés.
London Zone 3–4
£2,200–£3,800
Loyal local, better cost base.
Regional city (Bristol, Brighton)
£1,400–£2,800
Best margin tier, vibrant craft food scene.
Market town
£800–£1,800
Wholesale-led — restaurants and farm shops anchor revenue.
Licences & registrations
Get the paperwork done before you sign a lease.
UK figures for 2026. Lead times assume you submit complete applications — councils will pause the clock if you miss documents.
Requirement
Who issues
Cost
Lead time
ReqCompanies House Ltd registration
Companies House
£100
Usually 24 hours
ReqFood business registration
Local council EHO
£0
28 days before opening
ReqFood hygiene rating inspection
EHO
Included
First 6 months of trading
ReqHACCP plan
In-house / consultant
£0–£480
2 weeks
ReqAllergen labelling (Natasha's Law for PPDS)
Self-implement + audit
£0
Immediate
ReqPublic liability + product liability insurance
NFU / Hiscox
£420–£900/year
1 day
ReqEmployer's liability
Insurance broker
£280–£640/year
1 day
ReqWaste carrier (food + cardboard)
Local commercial waste
£140–£320/month
1 week
ReqExtraction system gas-safety + filter compliance
Annual TR19 clean
£280–£540/year
Annual
Build-out timeline
From decision to open in 12 weeks.
01
Phase 0 — Concept & site
Weeks 1–4- Define product (sourdough-led vs viennoiserie-led)
- Find 3-phase ground-floor unit
- Pre-app with council on extraction route
- Lease HoTs
02
Phase 1 — Build-out
Weeks 4–10- Extraction install (TR19-compliant)
- Three-phase upgrade
- Oven + spiral mixer delivery (6–10w lead)
- Retarder + cold room
03
Phase 2 — Recipes & wholesale
Weeks 8–12- Build mother starter (4 weeks)
- Test bake all SKUs to spec
- Wholesale tasting visits to 12 cafés (target 6 accounts)
- Cost cards + wholesale price list
04
Phase 3 — EHO + soft open
Week 12–13- EHO visit + food hygiene rating
- Allergen labelling pinned
- Wholesale deliveries start
- Friends & family Saturday preview
05
Phase 4 — Retail trade
Week 14+- Tue–Sat 7am–3pm retail trade
- Subscription cohort 1 launch
- Saturday market presence
- Daily sell-through review at close
Budget
Realistic startup and monthly cost ranges.
One-off · Startup
Setting up the shop
Lease deposit + 3 months
£6,000 → £20,000
Three-phase + extraction upgrade
£8,000 → £22,000
Oven + mixer + retarder
£24,000 → £62,000
Cold room + storage
£5,000 → £11,000
Retail counter + signage
£3,500 → £11,000
EPOS + e-commerce + wholesale tools
£600 → £1,800
Opening stock (flour, butter, packaging)
£1,800 → £4,200
Licences + insurance (yr 1)
£800 → £2,400
Working capital (3 months wages + COGS)
£14,000 → £42,000
Typical total
£64k–£176k
Recurring · Monthly
Keeping the lights on
Rent + service charge
£800 → £7,200
Business rates (after relief)
£0 → £2,400
Utilities (gas + 3-phase electric)
£820 → £2,200
Ingredients (flour, butter, salt — 18–22% rev)
£3,500 → £14,500
Wages (1 head baker + 2–4 staff)
£8,500 → £28,000
Packaging + consumables
£420 → £1,400
Waste collection + extraction service
£280 → £640
Marketing + EPOS fees
£140 → £540
Typical total
£14.5k–£56k
Numbers that compound
How a local bakery actually looks on a chart.
Illustrative planning ranges, not measured customer data. Toggle the views to see ramp, mix and weekly load.
12-month revenue ramp
Low vs high scenario (£ monthly)
High Low
Illustrative example for planning, not measured customer data.
First 90 days
Dates that actually matter after opening.
01Day 1 (Tue)
First retail open. 80 sourdough loaves + viennoiserie. 70% sell-through by noon. Wholesale: 4 cafés delivered at 6am.
02Day 6 (Sat)
First Saturday. 140 loaves, 200 viennoiserie. Queue out the door 9–10:30am.
03Day 30
Wholesale at 7 accounts = £3.2k/week recurring. Subscription cohort 1 launch (target 50).
04Day 60
Food hygiene rating inspection — target 5-star.
05Day 90
Steady-state: 94% sell-through, 11 wholesale accounts, 60 subscribers, £14k/week turnover.
What's inside
DNA, route, automations, integrations, benchmarks, advisors — tuned for a local bakery.
02Move
Suggested route
Build 6 wholesale accounts (cafés, restaurants) before opening retail. Set par by daypart. Launch a £24/week sourdough subscription month 2.
03Move
Automations
Wholesale standing order, par adjustment digest, end-of-day waste log, Saturday market reminder, subscription billing.
04Move
Integrations
Square POS, Stripe, Xero, GoCardless for wholesale, Google Business Profile.
05Move
Benchmarks
Sell-through by category, flour cost % of revenue, wholesale margin, retail conversion.
06Move
Advisors
Encore bakers from grain-to-loaf cooperatives and award-winning craft bakeries.
Stack
Modules used in this playbook.
01DNA Engine02Route Map03Launch Twin04Automation05Verified06Encore
Related playbooks
Owners of a local bakery often run — or cross-sell with — these adjacent operations.
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