“What’s happening in the UK?” A London bakery says it has been kicked out of an area market for being “too successful”

Bread Ahead, the donut bakery that made its name in London’s Borough Market, says it has been ordered to leave the place where it started. The reason this was given was that the business had become “too successful”.

Founder Matthew Jones made the lawsuit public on Thursday, September 10, by posting a video statement on Instagram. In it, he said market management had told the company that its international expansion meant the lease would not be renewed. According to him, the bakery was asked to curtail its activities in the market. Now he’s calling on clients and supporters to help him reverse that decision.

“Honestly, I never imagined that success would jeopardize our home,” Jones said. He insisted the bakery remains independent and founder-led, rejecting any suggestion it has become a faceless chain.

Counter, three products and 13 years

Bread Ahead opened in Borough Market in 2013 with one stall and three products. The company then opened a baking school in the market and became known around the world for its gourmet donuts, from a viral take on crème brûlée to blackcurrant, mascarpone and cheesecake fillings. Over the course of 13 years, the business grew throughout London and then overseas.

This growth is now at the center of controversy. Bread Ahead has stores in Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and the Philippines and is preparing to open its first US store in New York City in November. The company recently announced the opening of a bakery in Harpenden, its first UK branch outside London.

The company has come a long way from its market stall days. Jones, who worked in professional kitchens for many years before launching the brand, has grown it from a small team to a business that employs more than 100 people. Its baking schools educate tens of thousands of students in person and online, and in trade interviews earlier this year Jones outlined plans for further expansion in the Middle East and Asia.

83 jobs and public appeal

Jones warned that the loss of Borough Market would put 83 jobs in London at risk. He said he would not take the decision quietly and asked supporters to share his statement on social media and other channels to change the market’s fortunes.

He also tried to lower his temperature. “I don’t want a war with Borough Market,” Jones said. He wanted the charity running the market to remember the small bakery that started out as a stall and recognize what it had become.

The announcement sparked support online, with many criticizing the prospect of the bakery closing.

What does the city market say?

A Borough Market spokesman said its relationship with traders is “really important to us”, whether they continue to trade or are part of what he called “the success stories of their graduates”. Market officials said they are in contact with the Bread Ahead team but would not discuss details as negotiations for individual leases are confidential.

Borough Market is run as a charity and bills itself as the only fully independent market in London. It leases space and facilities to traders rather than selling them, leaving renewal decisions up to market management.

Bread Ahead isn’t the only longtime trader facing an uncertain future in the market. Maria’s Market Café, which has been trading there since the early 1960s, was told in July that its lease would not be renewed and its position remains unresolved.

For now, Bread Ahead continues to trade at Borough Market while both parties negotiate.

A closure date has not been confirmed and Borough Market has not publicly endorsed the “over-successful” characterization, declining to comment on the details of the case.