Lovingly Artisan, the sourdough bakery at Plumgarth's on Crook Road, is a finalist in five Baking Industry Awards categories. Winners are named on 25 November.
Lovingly Artisan, the sourdough bakery at Plumgarth’s on the Crook Road outside Kendal, is a finalist in five categories of the Baking Industry Awards 2026, the national awards run by the trade title British Baker. No other business appears more than twice on the published finalists list in the categories Lovingly Artisan has reached.
The bakery, which also trades at Altrincham Market in Greater Manchester, is up for:
- Bakery Leader of the Year, for director Aidan Monks
- Speciality Bread Product of the Year, for its Wholemeal Barber Wheat Sourdough
- New Bakery Product of the Year, for its Ginger & Marmalade Sourdough Bake
- Team of the Year
- Sustainability Initiative of the Year, for its Full Circle scheme
The winners of all 14 categories, and of an Outstanding Contribution to the Baking Industry award, will be announced at a black-tie dinner at the London Hilton on Park Lane on Wednesday 25 November.
“Pretty indescribable”
In a statement released through the bakery’s PR agency, Aidan Monks and Catherine Connor of Lovingly Artisan said:
“It’s pretty indescribable being shortlisted in five categories in this year’s Baking Industry Awards alongside our peers in this wonderful industry. The BIAs are without doubt the biggest event in the baking industry calendar and provide a much-needed platform for showcasing the skills and achievements of the whole industry, and we can’t wait to join the other finalists to celebrate everyone’s achievements in November.”
The awards organisers say this is the 39th year of the event and that it drew hundreds of entries from across the UK.
Who they are up against
The field is small in each category. The Wholemeal Barber loaf is one of only three finalists for Speciality Bread Product of the Year, alongside Happy Cinnamon Artisan Bakery’s Apple, Honey & Porridge Sourdough and Peter Cooks Bread’s Well-Bred Seeded Sourdough.
In Bakery Leader of the Year, Aidan Monks is one of five names, with leaders from Seven Seeded, The Compleat Food Group, Just Love Food Company and Imma the Bakery. Team of the Year has six finalists, including Wildfarmed and Two Magpies Bakery, and New Bakery Product of the Year has six, with the Ginger & Marmalade bake up against a Maple & Pecan Danish, sourdough crumpets and a tiramisu brownie among others.
The sustainability category is the one where a Cumbrian craft bakery meets the big suppliers: Full Circle is one of five finalists, against schemes from ADM Milling, Bako, Linwood Raker and the flour miller Whitworth Bros.
What Full Circle is
The bakery’s Full Circle page sets out the scheme the judges have shortlisted. Its grain now comes from farms 30 miles to the north, 84 miles to the northwest and 100 miles to the northeast, the bakery says, where it once came from around the world. The van that takes loaves north comes back carrying grain and rapeseed oil.
Surplus bran from its milling goes to feed the cows behind Mrs Kirkham’s cheese, which then goes back into its speciality bakes. It uses rapeseed oil grown by Eden Yard, one of its grain farmers, in place of imported olive oil, and says it makes more than 200 focaccia a week with it. Bread goes out in wax-lined bags that are compostable, and the bakery says it hires staff who live close to its bakery and shops so they are not losing hours to a commute.
What it means for you
The Kendal bakery and shop is on Crook Road, LA8 8QJ, at Plumgarth’s. Its website gives opening hours of 8am to 4pm Monday to Saturday, with bread from 9am on Mondays. It also sells online and posts loaves across the UK, packed at the Kendal bakery.
We will report the results after the awards night on 25 November.
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