Gloucester Road bakery and café Bakers & Co to close its doors after eight years

Popular Gloucester Road bakery and café Bakers & Co will close its doors next weekend after eight years.

Part of the Season + Taste group, which owns a number of Bristol restaurants including Bravas on Cotham Hill and Gambas at Cargo in Wapping Wharf, Bakers & Co opened in the spring of 2014.

Co-owned by Imogen and Kieran Waite, Bakers & Co began life as a brunch café within a working bakery and was one of the first of its kind in Bristol.

It quickly gained a reputation as a venue that was inspired by a ‘farm to table’ approach to food and drink, embracing traditional baking methods.

During the pandemic, Bakers & Co responded to the crisis by offering provisions, takeaway food and groceries to locals, as well as providing meals for the NHS and vulnerable people.

Head baker Brett St Clair went on to create traditionally leavened pastries and breads, and after lockdown Bakers & Co began an exciting new direction as a bakery and coffee shop.

The owners say everyone at Bakers & Co will be offered opportunities in other Season + Taste businesses.

The Bakers & Co site will eventually house a new venture from Season + Taste, but in the meantime, it will operate as a pop-up event space, providing a venue for various local projects and occasions.

Kieran told Bristol World: “There’s no one reason for its closure, and it’s not solely or directly related to the rising energy costs. But it’s the end of an era and we’ve loved being there.”