The money will ensure Bandit Bakery can open with all of the equipment needed.
Running a bakery is no easy task, neither is kitting one, as Pete Leonard, owner of new Aberdeen business Bandit Bakery would attest.
Having hit his crowdfunding target of £1.5K in the space of two days, Pete, who worked at Foodstory in the city centre for three years as a baker, says the additional money raised will allow the bakery to open how he had originally envisioned.
Picturing starting his business without all of the equipment he desired, and the interior not fully to what he wanted, Pete doesn’t have to worry now as he’s been able to invest in additional baking kit and will be able to tie up any loose interior ends before opening his dream store on Rose Street in mid March.
He said: “It’s hard to process almost. It is quite surreal thinking I’m going to have my own place soon. When I worked at Foodstory I was posting pictures of my bread on my Bandit Bakery Instagram page, although I wasn’t running a business or anything, it was just posting pictures of what I was making at home.
“Foodstory is an incredible business and the team and environment is great there. I was making bread in a kitchen instead of a bakery as such, and it was set up as a kitchen. They gave me the freedom and the opportunity to build up my skills but I got to the point where I wanted to be doing this under my terms and my own rules. I wanted to have an environment that was set up with the equipment I needed and laid out the way I like to work and that’s what I have now with my own space.”
Specialising in sourdough
An avid sourdough bread maker, Pete will run the bakery with his wife, Sarah, and will be creating a mix of products for customers to enjoy.
He added: “I want to focus on what I know I’m good at. Croissants, pastries and that sort of thing isn’t something I’ll be making, it will be sourdough bread, which I’ve been making for years and something I’m passionate about and I’m really good at. There will be other bread products like focaccia, baguettes and that sort of thing.”
Smashing targets
Generating £1.5K in two days, Bandit Bakery’s crowdfunder, which is still live for another nine days, has already generated £2,603 with 104 people baking it.
Pete said: “The small business start-up loan I got, for financial reasons, I wanted to keep any borrowed money as low as I possibly could. Once I started my business I found that there were hidden costs that came up and things were more expensive than originally envisioned. I started to realise the loan was just going to cover the basics.
“I knew we could still open with the basics but that just meant the vision for how the premises would look would have to wait, and it wouldn’t look like what I had hoped for opening. It would be maybe six months or so down the line before it did. The Indiegogo crowdfunder was perfect as we could launch the business exactly how we pictured it. From the decor to the equipment, just every dream item I needed. It allowed us to get more than what we could with just the loan.
“We hit 100% backing in around two days which was incredible. I wanted to keep the crowdfunder profile low and I wanted the perks to be things that we make, like bread and cinnamon buns, that sort of thing, so people were invested in the business and felt like they were part of it. I wanted to create this community feel. The additional money will be able to help us invest in more equipment and machinery, it means we’ll be able to have everything we need from day one.”
Opening
Aiming to be open within the first two weeks of March, Pete is raring to go and will not only be servicing the public, but will also have a range of wholesale customers including restaurant and cafes that he’ll be providing goods to around Aberdeen.
“I want to be open as soon as possible. I am incredibly excited and just want to get started and get people through the door,” said Pete.
“We’re aiming for early March, and thinking the first week or two of the month. Although, that depends on everything going smoothly. We’re looking to create a balance between being open to the public for retail, but also being closed to the public but producing bread for wholesale for local cafes and restaurants. We’re looking to be open to the public on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The other days we won’t be open we’ll focus on wholesale. We’ll be focusing on quality over quantity when it comes to that side of things.
“It is a really nice area and the style of the retail premises in the local vicinity is something we’re really excited about. And, it is five minutes from Rosemount where there’s some excellent businesses, too. We’re in a good spot where we are.”
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