Yorkshire bakery opens in Leeds' newly revamped Kirkgate Market

Yorkshire’s Bluebird Bakery is set to open a third shop inside the newly restored Kirkgate Market in Leeds city centre on February 18th.

This marks the first time Bluebird Bakery, which also has shops on York’s historic Shambles and in Malton, has branched into West Yorkshire.

Bluebird Bakery belongs to a family of ‘real bread’ independents and is a member of the Real Bread Campaign - meaning that all of its loaves meet the criteria set by the charity: long fermented, naturally yeasted and hand-shaped loaves. All the bread is also baked using organic flour.

The bakery also specialises in chocolate brownies and pastries such as the pork & fennel and spinach & chickpea rolls, among others.

Leeds City Council has invested over £13m in a refurbishment of Kirkgate Market, to make sure the building is fit for the future as well as offering a new shopping and leisure venues.

The redevelopment included redesigning the layout and now comprises fresh food areas, space for speciality markets, a dedicated events space with eight metre LED screen and free Wi-Fi.

These smart new spaces, which opened last year, sit alongside the historic architecture and traditional market layout of the Victorian and Edwardian halls.

Husband and wife owners and founders Al and Nicky Kippax are “thrilled” about the prospect of the Leeds launch.

Nicky said: “Leeds is a buzzing vibrant city - and nowhere embodies that big city energy more than Kirkgate Market. We’re thrilled to be joining some of the best food producers in Europe’s largest undercover market.”

Al added: “This is just how bread used to be made - with nothing processed and nothing artificial. We use traditional methods and simple, wholesome ingredients and we’ll be offering Leeds customers a taste of real Yorkshire bread - be that sourdough, rye, ciabatta or a good old traditional bloomer.”

Councillor Jonathan Pryor, Leeds City Council’s lead member in regeneration, transport and planning, commented: “We are very pleased to welcome Bluebird Bakery to the team at Kirkgate Market. I’m sure they will become very popular with our existing and new customers alike.

“Kirkgate is already home to some amazing characters, bursting with history and offering great value. We are very proud of what the market already has to offer and excited that new traders, like Bluebird Bakery, are able to take advantage of the recent refurbishment which is attracting new customers as well as the existing loyal customer base.”