Brighton bakery says it won't let award 'go to our heads'

Open Bakery, a family business which has been trading in Brighton since 2011 was named as the South East regional winner at the National Bakery Awards.

Justin Gourlay, whose family has been baking in Brighton since 1997, said the business focuses on preparing fresh bread and keeping to traditional recipes.

He said: “One of the biggest challenges is keeping the queue to manageable levels, especially on Saturday mornings when it stretches down the road. We won’t be letting the award go to our heads. We’ll keep doing all the great things that led to this nomination. Our only concern is that our queues might be even longer now.”

The bakery prides itself on fresh bread made to traditional recipes (Image: Open Bakery) Each entrant to the awards is judged by a panel of industry judges who select the county winners. From this shortlist the best bakery for each of twelve geographical regions is selected.

The bakery, located in George’s Road, Kemp Town, has a bakery on the shop floor, as well as a patisserie downstairs where they make fresh pastries and cakes. They also have a savoury kitchen down the road, and below that another kitchen where they make their own biscuits, jams, loaf cakes and granola. They recently launched a baking school.