ENTREPRENEUR John Church is celebrating this week after raising enough dough to keep a Neston bakery going. In fact, it is expanding and taking on the supermarkets with 'home cooked' bread and cakes.

Exactly a year ago this week, John, with wife Sue, rescued the bakery and jobs at Deeside Bakery, Clayhill Industrial Estate, Neston.

"Over 12 months, we have invested significantly and have been able to expand, creating more full and part time jobs," said Mr Church yesterday.

"A story in the helped to re-establish the bakery and we have an enthusiastic staff. First, we refurbished the redundant frozen food wing of the bakery to provide new offices. Now we have refurbished the old bakery office to provide a new Celebration Cake Design Studio," added Mr Church, who is also a business consultant.

Liz Church, formerly a partner at Wirral Riding Centre, takes charge of the design studio, designing and making cakes to order. She will continue to run riding classes for disabled people. All cakes are made at Neston by trained baker Steve Livesey and then decorated by Liz or Lynne Peers

Meanwhile, Deeside Bakery, which now has 12 employees, is enjoying a growth in the sales of large white and brown breads.

Said Mr Church: "Our cakes and breads are home baked here! The Government is to introduce legislation to force clear labelling of bakery products that are not made on the premises, as with many supermarkets. Here at Deeside Bakery we bake to perfection and welcome family and trade customers."

The bakery is celebrating its first birthday by baking a special Hale Bopp comet cake, which will be presented to a Globe reader. The comet is at its brightest this week. Deeside Bakery can be contacted on 336-7673.

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