Client Feature: East Bristol Bakery

We caught up with our client Alex Poulter, the guy whose determination and new found passion for baking helped create the award winning, East Bristol Bakery. He talks about how he set it up on a whim, giving his advice to those who may be looking to set up their own and why he cycled from Land’s End back to Bristol over the space of the week for a loaf of bread.

What’s your home-town and how did you end up in Bristol?
I have lived in a few different places, including time in Zambia and a small town near Liverpool when I was young. I spent most of my teens just west of Cardiff. I describe myself as being Welsh, but Bristol was the first place I’ve really felt was my home. I moved here on a whim when I was 23 and I haven’t looked back since.

Why did you decide to setup East Bristol Bakery?
I originally didn’t set out to open my own bakery. I’m honest about the fact I didn’t know nearly enough about baking or about business when I signed my lease. In the years previous to opening the bakery I’d become obsessed with baking bread and had spoken to several existing bakeries about getting experience and hopefully a job in the future. Laura at Harts Bakery gave me my first experience in a professional bakery but unfortunately she wasn’t able to give me a job at the time. I decided to set out on my own. I originally wanted to do something much smaller but before I could even start baking on a small scale I signed my lease on St. Marks Rd. My bakery grew organically and with a lot of hard work, trial and error.

What was it like setting up a bakery? Can you give any tips to those who may be wanting to?
Starting any new business is really, really, really hard work. It is scary and there is always something new to learn. No matter how confident you are, it can some time feel like you’re on a knife edge between success and failure. Nothing compares to getting it right though, and ultimately you’ve got to appreciate the experience of getting it wrong too.

My advice is simply to relish the challenge and to have as much fun as possible. Choose the people you work with wisely and build something you can be truly proud of. Learn from your mistakes, take advice from people you respect and don’t be afraid to ask for help. Asking for help is one of the hardest things to do, and believe me you are going to need help.

What is your background before baking?
Before baking I’d done so many jobs, mostly low paid and generally not requiring much experience.
I’m sure many people can relate to the feeling of simply not knowing what it is you want to do.
Until I started baking bread I had so many ideas of stuff I ‘could do’ and a really long list of jobs I ‘didn’t want to do’, but really I was lost. When I started baking I realised that this was what I needed to put all my energy into.

If you were a bread what would you be?
I’d be a white sourdough. Consistent, versatile and wont go stale for at least few days 😉

Favourite startup in Bristol
There are too many to name them all. The reason I feel in love with Bristol was because there are so many independents and the city seems to embrace people trying something new.Most of my favourites are food and drink related, but there are so many industries which are thriving in this city.

I also seem to be coming across more and more CICs (not for profit ‘Community Interest Companies’) which is really interesting. I like the fact that people don’t just want to run a business simply for the sake of it, but for it to be a ‘good’ business too.

Highlights of EBB
So many great things have happened since I started the East Bristol Bakery.
I suppose one of the biggest highlights was appearing on the Radio4 Food Programme, and having my bread featured at the BBC Food and Farming Awards. At the start of May last year I cycled from Land’s End back to Bristol over the space of the week. I recorded the journey for Radio4 and baked a loaf of bread with ingredients I picked up a long the way. A year later we are still using ingredients produced by the people I met, and that’s really cool.

Where do you see East Bristol Bakery in 5 years? Do you have any projects/ ideas in the pipeline?
I don’t expect the bakery to change much over the next few years. Our focus will always be small scale and high quality. I love the sense of community in Easton and I want to be part of that.
That said, I don’t see the bakery as being the limit to what we can achieve as a team.

Over the last few years we’ve met so many great producers and been inspired by the great things going on in the Bristol food scene. I’ve been wanting to be part of that in a wider context for quite a while. That’s why this summer we will be expanding out of Easton and into the city centre with our new restaurant FLOW. I’m really excited about this project because it is an extension of what we already do in the bakery, but a restaurant will require a whole new approach. There is so much to think about and so many things to consider, it’s really exciting.

Find out more
Twitter – @eastbrisbakery
facebook- www.facebook.com/EastBristolBakery
Soon to launch by Konichiwa PR – www.eastbristolbakery.co.uk