The Cornish Bakery in Lymington High Street promises to do better as it reopens following intensive staff training and deep clean

A LYMINGTON bakery has undergone a complete refresh in an effort to reach its usual standards following poor reviews and high staff turnover.

The Cornish Bakery in High Street closed for a week to conduct a “top-flight training programme” for its new 13 team members and a deep clean of the premises, and is now inviting the public to give the business “another chance”.

Operations director Stephen Evans-Wrobleski told the A&T: “I’m not proud to say we’ve not got it right, and the people of Lymington deserve better.

“We’ve not had the team perform as highly as we could, and rather than kid ourselves over that, we’ve had a complete refresh.”

Customers had been critical of the bakery in online reviews, highlighting the fact tables were not being cleared promptly, and management have admitted stock was running out by lunchtime because staff did not have the time to bake the goods.

“We now have every confidence we can do better, and it’s really encouraging to see better feedback from customers already,” said Stephen.

All products at the Cornish Bakery are baked fresh on the day, and include traditional pasties, sausage rolls, croissants, scones, tortilla, bronuts, sweet pastries, Cornish pudding, and cakes.

Innovation baker Alex Janes said food provenance is very important to the company.

“Obviously the pasties are all made in Cornwall, and in our filled brioche lunch rolls and pastries we use products made by small companies – for instance chutney and jam from Boddington’s Berries, again from Cornwall.

“We consider ourselves a new age bakery – we’re doing what the independents are doing. I’m always trying to push the boundaries and cater for all our customers by giving them what they want – whether that’s a really indulgent treat or a healthier alternative like tortilla.”

Stephen added: “We are an indulgent brand, we all have childhood memories of choosing our favourite treat from the local bakery and we want that to be part of that.

“We believe bakeries are the new cafe, customers no longer want food wrapped in plastic, they want freshly made on the day.”

Last year Cornish Bakery achieved an ‘outstanding’ grade in its first-ever entry to the Best Companies to Work For list. The company gained the highest scorings of any UK bakery company, all based on anonymous feedback from their employees.

A company spokesperson said that while many in the hospitality industry have been battling a recruitment crisis since the pandemic, Cornish Bakery continues to “grow in numbers and in staff satisfaction scores”.

They continued: “Going forward, with its newly invigorated team, the Lymington bakery will fully focus on positive community engagement and creating deep local connection.

“As part of this strategy, the team has forged a partnership with New Forest Young Carers – an organisation that supports people aged seven to 18 looking after someone in their family with a long-term health problem or disability.

“The bakery will support the organisation by raising money through events alongside their continued support of the Lymington RNLI.”

Bakes on offer at the Cornish Bakery include the pistachio croissant, salted caramel roll, bacon and cheese croissant and chorizo, mozzarella and Cornish sea salt pasty.

New retail products such as Boddington’s jams and chutneys, Cornish Bakery tea towels and stylish branded tote bags can also now be purchased from the Lymington bakery.

The company prides itself on sourcing a large majority of its ingredients and products from producers, growers and suppliers from across Cornwall and the south-west at large.

Cornish Bakery managing director Mat Finch said: “We are taking critical, positive steps to invest in the Lymington property and, most importantly, the team, who are vital to the everyday success of all our bakeries.

“We’re very proud to be a Lymington bakery and we’re inviting the great people of the town to reconsider Cornish Bakery as their chosen bakery and coffee spot.”

The bakery is open daily between 8am and 5pm.