Post Brexit, one man takes a stand and brings Germany to Yorkshire
by Matthew Cogan
Bimble loves an independent business with an interesting story and I spoke to Liam Wilton, the owner of Moin Moin Bäckerei, intrigued to find out how a German bakery came to be doing a roaring trade in Ilkley, West Yorkshire.
Turns out that Liam grew up in his parents’ bakery, in the nearby town of Rawdon. But he chose a different route and graduated from university with a master’s degree in chemistry. From there, he went to work for a large corporation in Hamburg, Germany, where he discovered a passion for German culture, German pastries and German bread! His job, however, “felt like being one of many cogs in a corporate machine“ and it wasn’t a great fit for Liam. When the UK voted for Brexit, he says it was “the straw that broke the camel’s back”: he made the decision to quit his job and move back to Yorkshire.
Just as so many in the UK were trying to sever ties between themselves and Europe, Liam decided to bring a little pocket of Germany to the edge of the Yorkshire Dales. Using money saved from his job in Germany, Liam opened a small bakery of his own in the town of Ilkley, calling it Moin Moin Bäkerie. This is not any ordinary bakery though, he wanted it to pull together the threads of his life. Its logo is an anchor — each point representing one of the three places so important to Liam — and a Yorkshire rose, to illustrate that whilst the bakery might have a German name and influence, he is a proud Yorkshireman at heart.
Liam puts quality and authenticity first, importing his ingredients directly from Germany to ensure that his baked goods are on par with those he loved in Hamburg. And it works — he told me that one extremely dedicated German client drives 45 minutes just to get her German bread from him every Sunday! One of the most interesting goods on offer at Moin Moin is the Franzbrötchen, a traditional sweet pastry from Hamburg. Liam tells me that to his knowledge Moin Moin Bäckerei is the only bakery in England to serve such a treat.
At the outset, Liam was involved in everything that was going on in the business, but as it has developed over the last 4 years, he has come to realise that he cannot keep on top of it all himself and needs a happy, committed team. Staff retention is a huge priority and has led to a business model where the staff share in the profits each month. Liam rightly says that if the employees believe in the business and love the products they are selling, then not only will customers have a better experience, but the business itself will run more smoothly.
Looking forward, Liam admits that much remains uncertain for independent businesses like his. “We have to look at what we offer the customer beyond the product” he stated, “we sell cakes, breads and sandwiches but really it is 5 minutes of peace that we are giving them”. Thinking of the overall customer experience is something that will be important for all small businesses as they come out of the pandemic and move back towards normality.
Find Moin Moin Bäckerei and other great places in my Bimble “In and around Ilkley” by clicking here!
