We’re an independent social enterprise and worker co-op, specialising in slowly fermented, hand-crafted bread.
Leeds Bread Co-op was established in the summer of 2012 by 3 founder members, who were motivated to make great quality, delicious bread made with healthy, well sourced ingredients available to the people of Leeds, whilst creating an ethical and enjoyable workplace that provides a good livelihoods to the workers.
With the help of a supportive community and loyal customers, we have slowly grown over the years – but have held true to the original aims of the co-op and to our co-operative values.
We, along with all our fellow co-operatives around the world, are based on the co-operative values of democracy, self-help, self-responsibility, equality, equity and solidarity. We aim for a non-hierarchical workplace where empowerment of staff, care of the community and collective self-reliance are at the core of how we function.
All of our products and our work is underpinned by the co-operative values and by our own Principles:
- Quality & Integrity
- Community
- Sustainability
- Good Workplace
- Co-operation
To can download a PDF to read more about our Principles here.
Our aims as an enterprise are focused around the 3 elements of our name:
- Leeds – to be a a socially conscious community bakery for the benefit of Leeds residents.
- Bread – to produce real bread in a socially and environmentally responsible way.
- Co-op – to provide an ethical and enjoyable livelihood and workplace to our employees.
We hope these simple aims will remain integral to the identity and activities of LBC. How we fulfil these at any given time will depend on what business model supports all of these aims, the current members’ interests and experience, and the social, economic and environmental context.
