Becws Môn Bakery was founded in 2016 by its Director, Richard Lewis, after seeing a gap in the local market for fresh, locally crafted baked goods. They have since grown to cover the whole of Anglesey and into Gwynedd.

We sat down (not literally because, you know, pandemic) with Richard Lewis, Director of Becws Môn Bakery, to ask a few Quickfire questions about how they've been coping with Lockdown and what their plans are going forward into this strange new world.

COFFEECUPS:

How did Lockdown initially affect your bakery business?

RICHARD LEWIS:

We initially took a 30% hit on customers, but that was then made up from the local shops as more people went to shopping local so the 30% drop of customers was recuperated from the busy local shops.

CC:

What challenges have you faced during the lockdown period?

RL:

Having to adapt the business and resource.

CC:

How has customer response been throughout the lockdown period, i.e. reaction through social media? Have people been supportive?

RL:

We have had very good response, We have gained 4000 more likes on our social media platforms, and they have been very engaging.

CC:

What ways have you had to adapt your business throughout lockdown and now restrictions are easing?

RL:

We have created an online shop and started home deliveries, at the peak of lockdown we were doing 120 drops a day, we are still doing home drops 3 days week. We anticipate this to continue and be part of business as normal. We have also created an online app store for our outlets which can be click and collect of delivery.

CC:

You recently opened Lewy’s Loaf – what impact did the pandemic have on the launch of that business?

RL:

We experienced a poor start to the business, and the business is still not up and running 100%. We have decided not to open the café side but the shop is still open. The shop opened and footfall increased as time went by over the lockdown period. The business has now broke even and the summer trade has kicked in in the busy tourist town, we think this year will be a long tourist period - longer than usual.

CC:

What innovations have you introduced to overcome social distancing?

RL:

We’ve introduced screens at all the outlets and separation in the shops when queuing; this doesn’t seem to effect business.

CC:

How do you think the industry will change following the pandemic?

RL:

Will there be any lasting changes? We have a café on a site which is a business park, and we have seen a 95% drop in revenue on this site, due to the fact that most office workers are still working from home, I predict that the future might look different with office based personnel working from home. This could reduce the lunch time trade in the bakery outlets.

I do believe bakeries need to diversify in the future into being both wholesale and owned shops to spread the risk of future business.