VIDEO: Partridge Green couple take over Billingshurst bakery

Mark and Helen Sheath, who live in Partridge Green, took over Jengers Bakery at the weekend after the previous owners of 25 years Jill and Barry Sowter retired.

Mark said he had been working with the previous owners for the past six months and said while he felt a mixture of excitement and nerves he ‘could not wait to get in there’.

Speaking to the County Times last week he said: “We are going to build on the wonderful customer base they have built in Billingshurst, and their wonderful customers. It will be very much business as usual and we can’t wait to get started.”

They renamed it Jengers Craft Bakery and are continuing to employ eight people.

Mark’s 27 years in the bakery industry started as an apprentice at 16 in his home village in Bedfordshire. Mark then went on to work as a pastry chef, travelled the world on cruise ships, and also had a stint at a five-star hotel in Devon.

He and his family moved to Australia, but after returning to the UK he worked for five years as a product development manager at Kate’s Cakes.

He added: “I was looking for a while to start my own business or buy a business.

“There’s nothing better than having raw materials, you mix flour, yeast, salt, and water and make wonderful bread and take it out of the oven and there is huge pride and satisfaction.”

He said his wife Helen would eventually be joining him working behind the scenes, as she currently teaches part time and runs her own business in Partridge Green.

Mark said it would be run as a ‘traditional family bakers’ and his 14-year-old son Fraser had shown an interest in seeing how the business was run.