Inside the Greater Manchester bakery you might not have heard of that wants to 'go to war' with Greggs

Growing up, a trip to the local bakery on a lunchtime or Saturday afternoon, might be characterised by picking up a Bakewell tart from the counter, an iced fairy cake or perhaps a fondant fancy if you were feeling decadent.

But things have changed somewhat since then. Those more traditional bakeries are still trading but closer to town, and in the city centre, we're seeing something quite interesting as more artisan, independent spots open.

Scroll through the social media pages of these new bakeries and you'll soon find all manner of creative twists on classics. From pistachio-filled croissants and rich dark chocolate choux buns to apple crumble cruffins and spiced pear Danish pastries - things have gotten very fancy.

READ MORE: Manchester brunch spot known for huge queues giving away FREE pancakes as it launches new location

But we're not complaining. There's a growing stock of artisan bakeries across Greater Manchester, keeping us engaged and filled to the brim with their latest creative concoctions.

There's one in particular that you might not have heard of yet - simply because its original site is tucked away behind a railway arch. But if you're partial to brunch, you'll likely have tasted their baked goods at one of Pot Kettle Black's many sites.

Last July, the Half Dozen Other, the bakery arm of independent coffee shop Pot Kettle Black, opened within a 5,000sq ft warehouse within the Red Bank neighbourhood - part of the wider Victoria North development . It counts culinary gems like Sparrows as neighbours, and has become a must-visit spot for pastry and coffee lovers across the city.

Pot Kettle Black was first launched by rugby league stars Jon Wilkin and Mark Flanagan in Barton Arcade in 2014 after Mark took a trip to Sydney and fell in love with the coffee and cafe culture. However, during the pandemic, after being inundated with wholesale requests, they decided to split the business off and create Half Dozen Other - and have grown from a small bakery facility to a full-scale warehouse operation in just a few years.

Now, they're branching out again with a second site for Half Dozen Other. Slap bang in the middle of Oxford Road it's seeking to grab the attention of commuters, but also the hungry students who might want to grab themselves a sweet treat - or potentially a savoury pick-me-up - on the way to university.

It's here at the new site that products arrive every morning freshly baked from the Red Bank site before being hand finished in the pastry room visible via a window which customers can catch a glimpse of whilst waiting for their coffees and bakes. The new spot also serves up coffee, pastry and bread seven days a week from 7:30am until 5pm on weekdays and 8am until 5pm on weekends.

Still boasting a soft pink aesthetic, the industrial backdrop of the space is softened by a series of wayfinding and a mysterious hand sculpture with one of their signature bakes - but it's fairly stripped back to let the pastries do the talking. Visitors can expect signature bakes such as their almond bear claw, Pain Suisse, cinnamon buns, and beautifully laminated range of croissants.

Mark Wegner, the bakehouse’s head baker, joined six years years ago and having successfully launched the flagship in 2023, he's got some pretty big plans for the new Oxford Road site too.

"What people can expect is the same - and then some," he jokes.

"So what we haven't done before is savoury, hot lunches. So there's going to be a pork and fennel sausage roll, a vegan sausage roll, then a lamb and harissa variation.

"Plus we'll be doing a Greek twist on a Pain Suisse with tomato, feta, olives, as well as a macaroni cheese Pan Suisse. The latter is as demented as it sounds, but we're doing it because frankly, if I was a drunk student I'd buy that.

"Pastry isn't just for breakfast it's for life, hence the new things we're doing. But also, so I can go to war with Greggs," he says with a grin.

When the bakery announced its arrival as part of the Circle Square development last month it quickly became apparent that the unit faces out onto a number of chains, one of those being Greggs. Mark has said it will be the "exact opposite" to Half Dozen despite the fact they'll both be slinging out sausage rolls and savoury options - but time will tell.

That said, Mark says he's really excited to offer something different at the new branch. "This isn't designed to be a replica of our other site, what we're doing here is creating a satellite.

"We're like a little moon here and we will establish lots of other little moons as we go on, which means some of the stuff will be made by the guys over there and finished here, and some of it will be produced here, so the items that don't have yeast in them for example.

"There's then plenty of potential to be creating other savoury items like tasty pies and quiches, but crucially we want to get the place open, let people in here and feed them."

Addressing the social media hype around bakeries, and establishments making 'Insta-worthy' content, Mark says that won't be enough though to get repeat customers in today's tough climate.

"Inevitably now, if you do something visually appealing people come in, but if that's all it is they'll only come once. They come in because they want to, but they come back because they know it's good.

"If it's just superficial it will never last. What we've managed to establish and grow, we've done on that basis, so we've hired very passionate people, we use great ingredients, we take time and care with where we source them from too, so we don't cut corners.

"I think that's reflected in people's experience with the bakery and relationship with the brand. They wouldn't come back if they spent a fiver on a multi-coloured croissant and it wasn't very good.

"People stand outside and queue in the rain, so if they can be bothered to do that for us, why shouldn't we invest the same time and energy.

"In a small space of time we've grown a great deal, from a small space at the back of a coffee shop to a slightly bigger space in Salford, to the bakery space in Red Bank that supplies 150 restaurants, and we're now opening this which will feed a lot of people walking past every day - it's a big achievement for us."

To mark the new opening, Half Dozen Other have also teamed up with Ozone coffee to offer £1 coffees every day throughout December.

Half Dozen Other is located at Circle Square on Oxford Road. It will be open seven days a week from 7:30am until 5pm on weekdays and 8am until 5pm on weekends.