Energy reliant bakery owner and founder, David Le Masurier, explains how the business is remaining confident and positive despite rising bills
An independent Cardiff bakery is managing to keep a confident, positive and upbeat attitude in the face of the energy crisis, founder of the Pettigrew franchise states.
The Cardiff-based bakery is heavily reliant on energy in order to bake the goods, which has a big impact on its bills, especially now in the energy crisis.
During mid-October, the Victoria Park bakery had solar panels installed on the roof in an effort to keep energy bills down. It has a 100% renewable electricity contract with British Gas, using purely electric heating and hot water.
David Le Masurier, founder of Pettigrew Bakeries, said it has minimised its baking time down from seven hours a day to four hours to save energy.
Even with these energy cuts in place, David has still seen a massive rise in his energy bills. However, with incoming government funding, he will see his Victoria Park bakery bills decrease from 47p/kWh to 21p/kWh.
The bakery is only interested in skilfully produced bakes, David said. He added, “We have no interest in using cheaper ingredients.” They use organic British flour, as it yields the best, the owner clarified.
Following the merging of Friends in Knead and Pettigrew Bakeries in July, the two businesses have been able to expand and stay afloat amid rising bills, while receiving an increasing amount of support from their customers.
Pettigrew’s owner said, “We are stronger together.” He highlighted the importance of the bakery to its customers, labelling the baked goods as staples. He noted that there has been a shift in customers, from fewer tourists to more locals, perhaps due to their loyal relationship.
The Federation of Small Businesses have acknowledged the spike in bills and said: “Small business customers should be able to choose what services they pay for and be able to source energy-saving deals easily.”