All work and no carbs make for a very hungry Holly, so I was delighted to be
invited to a team building showcase at Borough Market's Bread Ahead Baking School with Fay
Sharpe and the new Fast Forward 15 cohort...
Bread
Ahead, bakers of delicious breads, cakes, and pastries, have grown to 10
locations since its inception in 2013 and has quickly become a destination for
Londoners and food fanatics across the world.
In
2014, Bread Ahead founder, Matthew Jones, formerly a Michelin-starred chef,
opened the doors to the Bread Ahead Baking School which can see up to 400 eager
bakers of all levels hone their baking skills in the Borough Market Baking School
each week.
With
the baking school’s popularity well and truly established, Matthew and the team
decided to take the concept a step further and offer interactive, rewarding,
and tasty teambuilding activities for the corporte sector.
Fay
Sharpe, founder of the all-female mentorship programme, Fast Forward 15 (FF15)
is a skilled baker, and Bread Ahead has been on her ‘Top bakeries’ list for some
time. When she caught wind of the new teambuilding activity being offered by
Bread Ahead, she knew it would be the perfect way for the 2023/24 FF15 mentee
intake to met each other and bond together.
"The
success of the Fast Forward 15 programme is based on the cohort bonding
together and the closer they are, the better the results," explained Fay
while mixing butter, flour, and sugar.
Bread
Ahead’s teambuilding activities can be curated to suit the organisation and
incorporate brand elements such as colours and ingredients.
Our
group was tasked with two mystery bakes with only a clues and riddles for
instructions – Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith style!
“It’s a great way to get people to work together and communicate. You don’t
have to be brilliant baker to help crack a clue or identify that the ‘golden
liquid’ is probably the bowl of melted butter in front of you,” says Weigela
Weigand, Bread Ahead’s Bakery School teacher.
Bread Ahead can accommodate groups from 12-26 across its London bakery schools,
and if you can’t get to the school in person, then Bread Ahead will bring the
baking masterclass to you via its virtual workshops.
“If you’re
looking to host your next team event or want to do something a little different
to celebrate a special occasion, we’ve got you covered,” adds Matthew Jones.
Blueberry crumble muffins
“We offer an immersive baking experience that people love. You often get people
who say they can't bake, but it's nonsense, because everyone can bake.
“We
promise that you'll always learn something in this room, and you’ll have fun in
the process. Nothing brings people together better than food because everyone has
to eat and the beauty of baking is that you start with nothing and end up with all these delicious
products that you take home.”
When
we finally cracked the clues for our mystery bakes, we discovered we were making a batch of brownies
and batch of blueberry crumble muffins. I wouldn't have recieved a Hollywood Handshake if Paul had been in the room...
Find
out more about Bread Ahead’s Baking School here.
A desire to travel led Holly Patrick to the business meetings and events world and she’s never looked back. Holly takes a particular interest in event sustainability and creating a diverse and inclusive industry. When she’s not working, she can be found rolling skating along Brighton seafront listening to an eclectic playlist, featuring the likes of Patti Smith, Sean Paul, and Arooj Aftab.
