Baker ordered to leave historic food market 'for being too successful'

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Bread Ahead founder Matthew Jones has vowed to fight the decision and has warned 83 jobs could be lost

A baker has claimed he is being forced out of London's historic Borough Market because his business has become "too successful".

Matthew Jones, the founder of Bread Ahead, said the bakery's lease will not be renewed after 13 years at the famous food market.

Mr Jones claimed he had been told the company's international expansion meant it could no longer remain at the site where the business began.

He has vowed to fight the decision, warning that leaving the market could result in the loss of 83 jobs in London.

Mr Jones said: "There is no way that I am rolling over. I’m invested in this, I have given my absolute life to this for 14 years and I have always paid rent on time. I am a brilliant tenant. I thought being successful was something that we celebrated?

"Guys like me should be the inspiration for the next generation. We do so much charitable work with companies such as School Food Matters. We invest everything back into what we do.

"It’s unbelievable… it will mean the loss of 83 jobs in London, the loss of a business there. It is incomprehensible, the stress that I am under right now."

Bread Ahead began at Borough Market before opening its first permanent bakery on nearby Cathedral Street and later establishing a baking school there.

The business has since expanded across London, with locations including King's Cross, Leicester Square, Wembley and Bromley.

Its success has also taken the brand overseas, with outlets in Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and the Philippines, while a New York opening is planned for November.

But Mr Jones insisted the company's international growth had not transformed it into a corporate chain.

He said: "We haven’t been bought by a multinational. We haven’t become a faceless chain. We are still founder-led.

"We still bake, we still teach, we still employ people and we still have our roots firmly planted in Borough Market."

The entrepreneur said he "never imagined that being successful could put our home at risk".

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Mr Jones added: "Borough Market gave us our start. It became our home. It is where Bread Ahead grew up.

"From that tiny stall, we built a bakery, a baking school and a community. We taught tens of thousands of people to bake, created jobs, and eventually grew beyond London into an international business.

"But now we have been told that Bread Ahead has become too successful, and that our international growth means Borough Market will not renew our lease."

Borough Market, which can trace its history back an entire millennium, said decisions over lease renewals were subject to a formal process and declined to discuss the details of Bread Ahead's tenancy.

A spokesman said: "Our relationships with traders are really important to us, whether they’re actively trading or as part of our alumni of success stories. No matter how long businesses are with us for, we value their contribution to making Borough Market what it is.

"We continue to be in contact with the Bread Ahead team about their future at the market, but as discussions relating to individual tenancies are confidential it would not be appropriate to comment on the specific details of this case.

"Our approach is to apply these processes fairly and consistently, while ensuring Borough Market continues to evolve and thrive as one of London’s leading food destinations where independent businesses can thrive."

The dispute comes as Bread Ahead has also left its Pavilion Road site in Chelsea after its 10-year lease came to an end.

Mr Jones said running a business in Britain was "so hard at the moment", but revealed the company was now preparing to open a new site in Harpenden, Hertfordshire.