Bakery owner ‘traumatised’ by burglary

THE owner of an independent bakery in Caversham said she felt “traumatised” after thousands of pounds’ worth of equipment was taken from her store during a break-in.

Jo Deacon, who opened BKRY in Church Street last September, said that she had prioritised strengthening security after the incident out of concern for her predominantly female team.

Thames Valley Police is currently investigating the incident, which took place between 5pm on Wednesday last week and 8.30am the next day.

Ms Deacon said that a laptop, iPad, cash from the till as well as an order for a customer was taken. She said: “The doors were locked but I walked upstairs and the lights were on and I found loads of rubbish had been thrown over the floor and aprons.

“It didn’t feel right and when I looked over to the table and found that our laptop had gone missing, I ran downstairs and found the till system, which is our iPad, and our cash had all been taken from our till.

“I had made some cakes for someone the evening before and they had also been taken.

“I had to get a new lock fitted on the doors and new security cameras and tell staff that we don’t want people here on their own.”

Ms Deacon obtained CCTV footage from a neighbouring business. She said that the incident had made her feel unsafe in her own home, which is nearby.

She said: “I was actually to scared to even go and just brush my teeth, the bakery is like an extension of my home and I live very, very close so I just felt very unsafe and scared.”

After opening the shop last September, Ms Deacon said that through the business’s early success she had managed to finish the refurbishment of the building, and start up an academy with regular baking classes.

However, she said that profit margins remain low given it is in its first year, and that the burglary had been a “huge hit” on the business.

Ms Deacon said that she has felt supported by the local community, who have helped her recuperate losses by purchasing tickets for a raffle with 30 prizes to be drawn this weekend.

Tickets cost £5 and are available from the BKRY website. Prizes have been donated from businesses including Amie’s Beauty Bar, Natural Aesthetics by Bianca, Serene Glow, Hair by Jodee and more. Ms Deacon said: “The community has been absolutely amazing, we have sold about 300 tickets already.

“Loads of people have been coming into the shop and wishing us well and making sure we’re okay, some people that hadn’t even been in before said they wanted to come in and give support.

“If we hadn’t had this response back from the raffle I would probably be in a completely different state of mind. Everyone has just made this so much better for us.”

The winners of the raffle will be announced via Instagram live at 2pm tomorrow (Saturday). For information, visit

bkry.co.uk/products/
sweet-justice-raffle-ticket