Our Story

The journey of The Original Baker begins with our founder, Gill Ridgard — a passionate baker with an uncompromising commitment to quality, flavour, and tradition. With a background rooted in the food industry and a love for honest, handmade food, Gill set out to create something special: a bakery that would bring back the kind of savoury bakes she remembered from her childhood — hearty, golden, and packed with real ingredients. What started as a simple idea soon grew into a thriving artisan business, built on care, craft, and a deep respect for the art of baking.

Early Days on the Farm

Gill’s passion for food was instilled early, growing up on the family farm. From a young age, she
was involved in every aspect of farm life, learning the value of hard work and quality ingredients.
Her father established a farm shop to sell meat directly to customers, and by the age of sixteen, Gill was confidently cutting and preparing pork, beef, and lamb to the same standard as the professional butchers.

These foundational skills would later prove invaluable in her career. Alongside butchery, Gill enjoyed baking pastries with her mother, drawing inspiration from her home cooking.

The influence of her mother’s culinary skills shaped Gill’s passion for quality
food, a foundation that would stay with her throughout her life.

A Yorkshire Business Venture

In 2008, Gill founded Yorkshire Baker, focusing on creating premium pastry products using the finest ingredients. Her handcrafted sausage rolls, pies, and pasties quickly gained popularity with delis and farm shops across North Yorkshire. This success caught the attention of Cranswick plc, leading to a partnership that helped expand the business.

Back to the Origins

After five successful years, Gill decided to return to her original vision of supplying independent
businesses. As a farmer’s daughter, her passion was rooted in supporting farm shops. A mutual
friend introduced her to Cheryl Barrett, who joined as Sales & Marketing Director. Together,
they launched The Original Baker, combining Gill’s expertise in production with Cheryl’s experience in customer
relations.

This collaboration has allowed the business to continue producing high quality, handmade products on a larger scale. At The Original Baker, we remain committed to the same principles that Gill has always upheld creating products by hand with time, passion, and skill. Each pie and pastry is crafted by our dedicated team of artisan bakers, with our people and their time being the essential ingredients in everything we create