A BAKERY business run by a father and daughter in Watlington has decided to close after six years.
Family duo Al and Kitty Tait launched The Orange Bakery store in Watlington High Street in 2020 and also operated pop-up stands each Saturday.
The pair started their journey in 2019, when Kitty was 15, after baking a loaf of bread together.
Mr Tait, who teaches neurodivergent students from the University of Oxford, said his daughter had been struggling with chronic anxiety and depression and could no longer attend school.
But after watching her father baking a loaf, Kitty decided she wanted to give it a go.
Al, 56, said: “We tried pretty much anything and everything to distract Kit, including arts and crafts, cooking, gardening, whatever we could. Nothing worked really, or not sustainably enough at least.
“But then, Kitty saw me bake a loaf of bread. She decided she wanted to have a go, and for that one moment of time, she just seemed like Kitty again.
“So, we baked this loaf of bread, and she loved it, and then she wanted to bake another one. And I’m sure you understand the story that came about.”
The duo started handing out bread to their neighbours who would return for more and Kitty created a subscription service, which turned into a small pop-up store.
The teenager set up a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign and made a video promoting their business which gained significant traction on social media.
The father and daughter then had the funds to open their bakery in Watlington High Street.
Mr Tait said: “Within a year, Kitty went from having never baked a loaf of bread to both of us sort of running the shop together, entirely unplanned, unthought about and unstrategic. So, probably very unwise.
“Bakers and bakeries are the most amazing community, and the crowdfunder was absolutely amazing because it enabled us to open the shop.
“But we ended up getting money from all over the world because people had heard her story from a long way away. And equally, the Watlington community is so lovely.”
Mr Tait and Kitty ran their bakery in Watlington High Street for about three years, before closing their shop in 2023 when they decided not to renew the lease.
The duo explored the idea of running a community bakery in 2023 with a “lovely” group of about six people who baked with them and continued to run a pop-up stall in High Street every Friday and Saturday.
The group were using the former scout hall behind the Watlington Club, in High Street, to bake, but have decided not to renew their lease for the building.
The Orange Bakery traded for the last time in December last year.
Mr Tait said: “The bottom line was that we never really planned to have a baking business. I’m not a businessman by any stretch of the imagination.”
Kitty, now 21, has baked all over Europe, including in Copenhagen and Paris, but has now moved to London and is looking to open her own bakery in the city.
Mr Tait said: “With Kitty moving to London, and me gently picking up more of my teaching as time’s gone on, it felt like the right time to just gently draw that chapter to a close, really, of our little bakery in Watlington.
“It’s been absolutely amazing, and we feel so privileged really, to be able to have been part of Watlington High Street and part of the town, but it does feel very right for us to move on.”
Writing on her Substack account, Gluten morning, Kitty said: “The journey has been full of ups and downs: navigating lockdown, running a business with no experience, outgrowing our home, and finding new spaces to bake. It has been the most amazing adventure.
“The Orange Bakery was always us: a father and a daughter.”
