Opening an organic bakery

Our intervention

FTC supported the Boulangerie Pierre Alix both on the business plan side and in the search for premises.

The few months spent working on the business plan allowed Pierre Alix to have a good understanding of the legal and tax framework as well as the overall costs to be expected to carry out his project. In particular, we were able to discuss together the organic certification standards, the differences in salary costs between France and the United Kingdom, but above all the place that bread takes in the everyday life of the English people. Drawing on our experience in supporting bakers (FTC, for example, set up the Maison Puget in the famous Portobello Road), we analysed English consumer habits to calibrate the business model in relation to a population with different expectations. 

The search for the premises turned out to be challenging! The choice of a predefined district left us with few options. After having identified a first property for which the negotiations were unsuccessful, we were able to find a solution by subletting the premises of an estate agent. A complicated transaction, therefore, because it was necessary to negotiate both with the landlord and with the tenant of the premises.

At the same time, it was also necessary to settle the technical aspects, in particular the switch to three-phase current, which is never an easy task, as well as obtaining authorization to pour concrete screed to reinforce the ground before the installation of ovens weighing several tons.

A complex project, therefore, but carried out to the delight of the inhabitants of Muswell Hill who will now be able to find a quality organic baker two steps from their front door!