And as the family-run bakery celebrates its 80th anniversary, it is clear this is a business looking forward as much as it is looking back.
The story began in 1946 when John Bell returned to Lazonby after being held as a prisoner of war in Germany.
Behind his parents’ village home was a small bakery in a lean-to shed. John planned to run it until he found a job.
As the family now jokes, he never did find that job!
Instead, the bakery grew. Bread and cakes were taken directly to rural communities using mobile shops, eventually expanding to 11 rounds. Bells later opened shops in Penrith, Carlisle, Kendal and elsewhere, while developing its wholesale business.
For second-generation owner Michael Bell, the secret has always been an ability to adapt.
Perhaps the biggest example came in 2000 when Michael tried living as a coeliac for a week and was disappointed by the gluten-free products then available.
“There was nothing in the bakery aisle that I wanted to eat,” he recalls.
His response was ambitious. After discussing the idea with a supermarket buyer, Bells sold one of its shops and built what became the UK’s first purpose-built gluten-free bakery. Within 12 months it was supplying Sainsbury’s and soon expanded into dairy-free products.
Today, the business is roughly evenly divided between conventional and free-from bakery products.
Yet despite its growth, Bells remains firmly connected to Lazonby and the wider Cumbrian community. The bakery supports around 420 local jobs, providing employment, apprenticeships and long-term careers in a rural area where major employers can make an enormous difference.
Its philosophy is summed up by the Bell family’s “three Ps”: people, product and profit. Profit, Michael explains, enables the company to support both its people and the place it calls home.
There are already plans to expand the Lazonby site, increasing production capacity while keeping the business independently owned and headquartered in Cumbria.
The next generation is involved too, with Michael’s daughter Polly recently launching her own venture, The Baker’s Daughter.
After eight decades, Bells of Lazonby offers a wonderful example of British baking heritage that refuses to stand still.
As Michael puts it: “We must build bandwagons, not jump on them.”
Here’s to the next 80 years – and plenty more cakes along the way.
