04/09/2022
Good morning everyone,
This will be a long post, but I would be grateful for you all to read through as it is important.
I am sure a lot of you have seen the article posted on Kent Online, so we would like to address it here;
First and foremost we want to apologise. It is unforgivable and we deeply regret letting the standards slide. We want to be clear and say that as soon as it came to our attention, the risks of contamination our shop faced, we were appalled and devastated and took immediate action to close the shop, voluntarily. We worked hard to get the shop back up to scratch, every nook and cranny was checked and scrubbed, continuously working with the council to ensure the shop was safe to open, only then did we allow customers back in. We had been expecting our follow up report within the coming weeks.
It was hard for us all to read the article, even harder to get through the comments. We don't want any sympathy here, we just want you all to understand that the fall out has just proved too much at this point, as a family and as a business. This has not been an easy decision to make but it feels like the right one for everyone, that we will be closing BAYKED permanently.
It has been an incredible two years. What started as a small passion project, just the four of us at the start, grew into something we could have never imagined, we have been overwhelmed by your love and support, and knowing people loved our bakes made every stressful day of navigating a business worth it. This was all new to us, and we are only human. The good memories outweigh the hard ships. If nothing else, it's been amazing for our family. Our two daughters Ellie and Laura, later joined by their sister Erin, helped open up the shop and basically managed it between them, with no prior experience, they learnt fast because they had to and I am so proud of them. They carried on with minimal complaints for the love of the business and the community and the bread of course. I am so proud of them and what they have achieved and even more so I am so grateful for the bond that has grown due to their time at BAYKED, they're best friends. And of course BAYKED would be nothing without their uncle, Justin, the man behind the bread… the pastries…the cakes…the list goes on. His seemingly effortless ability to combine favours and produce flawless products every time, his attention to detail has been the catalyst in BAYKED's success and we know how hard he has worked, early mornings and long hours, again, with no complaint.
Thank you so much for everything, opening through covid was no easy feat and it certainly hasn't been smooth sailing since. But it's been a lot of fun and we've learnt a lot. We don't see this as a failure, as we have gained so much. We want to take this opportunity to remind you how important it is to support your local independent businesses, there are so many brilliant small businesses in Herne Bay and we will continue to buy in the bay as we know first hand how much it means.
Finally, to all our staff over the last couple of years: You've been brilliant, patient and super hard working, you've been integral to our growth and we cannot thank you enough.
We will be closed tomorrow but open the rest of the week but as soon as we get through the rest of our stock we will be closing permanently.
(please refrain from leaving any negatives comments, if you really need to, leave them on the article)
Lots of loave (😉)
BAYKED x
