Social enterprise The Wren Bakery has moved into a 1,400 sq ft ground floor unit in Mill 6 at Mabgate Mills, Leeds 9 in a deal negotiated jointly by CHP Management and Carter Towler.
Founded in 2019 by Clare Sanderson and Emma Flint, The Wren Bakery is a social enterprise offering training and employability skills to women in Leeds for whom the challenges they face have a devastating impact on their lives and their ability to work. This includes women who live with domestic violence, criminal records, addictions and poor mental health, and who face barriers that exclude them from participating in society.
The Wren Bakery co-founder Clare Sanderson explains: “Here at Wren, we believe in second chances and see the potential in every one of the women we work with. We seek to empower and equip these women, giving them the tools they need to build a better future for themselves.
“Our training provides a safe and supportive environment for women to make steps towards employment. We use baking and barista training as tools to develop opportunities for our women and to give them valuable transferable skills. We invest in their well-being, supporting them to be healthy in life and work. We are a fabulous community of women, journeying together, facing our fears and doing it anyway!”
Siobhan Riley of CHP Management who manage Mabgate Mills added: “Clare and the team at The Wren Bakery are doing an amazing job. I’m so pleased that they are taking over the café at Mabgate. Now the business will have a fabulous base for them to further develop their successful enterprise.”
Commenting on the deal, Carter Towler director Rick Fraser said: “This is such great news for Mabgate Mills, not only does this fantastic business get the opportunity to offer more women the help they need but the other tenants and visitors to the mills get a great place to go for coffee and delicious cakes! I hope the new location proves to be a really positive move for The Wren Bakery.”
There are now over 30 businesses in the mills which provides a mix of business premises ranging from incubator units and studios to office suites. There are currently a small number of offices available of varying sizes from 195 – 2,447 sq ft sq ft.
