A North West specialist in sourdough bread, with a branch in Greater Manchester, has been named the best artisan bakery in the UK for the third year in a row. Placing number one in the 2025 Bakers’ Dozen, a list of the best artisan bakeries in Britain voted for by over 100 specialists, was Lovingly Artisan Bakery, which produces 14 different types of sourdough.
The bakery which has two North West locations – Kendal in Cumbria and Altrincham in Greater Manchester – was revealed as the winner at the second ever meeting of The Artisan Collective, held at The Compound, Birmingham on January 28. The Artisan Collective is an initiative created by British Baker, a B2B publication for the baking industry, to celebrate artisan bakeries and the people behind them while offering a platform to facilitate conversations and share skills.
An artisan bakery is where baked goods – such as sourdough, bread, buns, pastries, and cakes and more – are made by skilled bakers by hand, often utilising longer and more traditional processes. Quality of ingredients and the end products are high on the agenda, and as a result, artisan bakeries typically only have a handful of sites.
When it came down to voting time for the Bakers’ Dozen more than 100 specialists, including artisan bakers, consultants, suppliers, and lecturers, were asked to vote for their favourite artisan bakeries. Each voter was hand-selected by British Baker with the voters broken down by region to ensure bakeries across Britain had an equal opportunity to shine.
However, Lovingly Artisan Bakery at Altrincham Market was not alone in representing the North West region when it comes to artisan baked goods. Manchester bakery Pollen also featured in the list of the best artisan bakeries in the UK, coming in at fourth place and beating Arôme in London.
The 2025 Bakers’ Dozen
- Lovingly Artisan – Cumbria and Greater Manchester
- Northern Rye – South Shields
- Lannan – Edinburgh
- Pollen – Manchester
- Arôme – London
- Bread Source – Norfolk
- Levain & Cherry – Birmingham
- Farro – Bristol
- Pettigrew Bakeries – Cardiff
- Gorse – Cornwall
- Haxby Bakehouse – York
- Bread Ahead – London
- Fortitude Bakehouse – London
Commenting on their win, Aidan Monks and Catherine Connor, the owners of Lovingly Artisan Bakery said: “Winning the number one spot again for the third year in a row is totally incredible. We are thrilled to be in the top 13, but to have your peers vote for you and recognise you as the UK’s top specialist sourdough bakery is a little overwhelming.
“Hopefully, everything we do for our customers has struck a chord and has begun to influence more and more artisan bakers up and down the country to put quality, wholesome, healthy bread at the centre of the dining table where it rightly belongs.”
📍Lovingly Artisan, Altrincham Market, Greenwood St, Altrincham, WA14 1PF | Crook Road, Kendal, LA8 8QJ.