Bake Off: The Professionals chef Adam Cleal launches crowdfund to open Niche pâtisserie

Bake Off: The Professionals semi-finalist Adam Cleal has launched a crowdfunding campaign to open his own bakery and pâtisserie.

The chef and his family have acquired a 400-year-old ‘Black Gate' building in Oswestry, Shropshire, which they are aiming to transform into Niche Patisserie.

The team are hoping to raise £20,000 on crowdfunder.co.uk to help fund the fit-out and buy kitchen machinery to launch a pâtisserie studio, bakery, luxury shop and afternoon tea experience.

Cleal was head pastry chef at Palé Hall hotel in Llandderfel, Bala Gwynedd, from 2016-2019, and previously worked as senior pastry chef de partie at the Michelin-starred Lympstone Manor in Exmouth and as demi chef de partie at Gidleigh Park in Devon.

He was a semi-finalist in the 2019 series of Bake Off: The Professionals and came second in the Junior Chocolate Masters competition in the same year.

Niche Pétisserie launched in May 2020 after Cleal began baking from home during the pandemic and people in the local area began making orders. It has since built up 1,200 regular customers and 15 commercial contracts and the team, which includes Cleal's brother and mum Samantha, are hoping to grow the business further.

Samantha told the Caterer: "We started out doing 20 sourdough loaves a week, and now we do over 300. It's quite exciting as over the last 12 months it's grown really quickly. We want to be a destination to come to, not just for pastries and pâtisserie, but for Oswestry."

The ‘Black Gate' was a tearoom in the 1950s but has been empty for nearly two years.

The team are hoping to hire apprentices to train in the bakery and have other commercial partnerships lined up for the future.

To view the crowdfund page click here.