Leominster community bakery plan takes step forward

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Wednesday, 29 November 2023 15:19

By Gavin McEwan - Local Democracy Reporter

There is enough interest in running a community bakery in a Herefordshire town to take the idea to the next stage and seek funding for it.

The move comes in the wake of the advertised sale of the Central Bakery, Leominster’s only independent bakery, which has prompted the LARC Development Trust, formerly the Leominster Area Regeneration Company, to step in.

A meeting last night (November 28) in the town’s Grange Court, which the trust owns and operates, “was quite well attended and all expressed an interest in being involved”, its chair Jacky Herschy said.

It was addressed by Nick Comley of The Plunkett Foundation which supports community businesses and has been advising the trust, “and with whom we would hopefully be able to work to get the project off the ground”, she said.

The proposed project would buy the Central Bakery premises on West Street for the purpose, and the trust now intends to apply to the government’s Community Ownership Fund to support the plan before holding another public meeting on December 14.

“Hopefully we will be able to get more people to that meeting to give us the public support to take it forward,” Ms Herschy said.

Meanwhile the Central Bakery will continue as a business until the building is sold. The company is supportive of, but not involved in, the LARC project.