New ‘traditional’ bakery in Rushden's High Street opens for business - hoping to rise to the top

Elevens Bakery serves hot and cold drinks, traditional cakes and pastries, sandwiches made with freshly made bread, baguettes, doughnuts, eclairs, cookies and more.

Adam Cousins, one of the new owners of the bakery, said: "It’s a more modern look on a traditional bakery. I think they started to drop away because they need to keep with the times a bit more, so everything here is more traditional.

“I won’t buy from somebody who’s a million miles away, I like to try and keep it local.”

Aside from Greggs, Elevens Bakery is the only dedicated bakery in Rushden’s town centre, and hopes to take cues from Greggs, but pair that brand’s convenience with something more traditional and local. After seven weeks of renovations, today (June 28) was its first day accepting customers.

The family-run business is owned and run by Adam and his wife, Kelly, who also own Inflatapark in Brindley Close, a children’s indoor play area which opened in 2022.

People praised the food on offer at Inflatapark, which prompted the pair to look into the possibility of expanding the food side of the business, and soon after ‘jumped in with both feet’.

The bakery allows them to use the space to prepare the food for Inflatapark while also feeding hungry people in the centre.

Adam added: “I’m one of those traditional people who love a High Street. I’d like to try and drag things back a bit to how it was when I was a kid.

“You come up and down here, and there are so many closed shops and I thought I’ll have a go. I know it’s risky, but let’s have a go and see if we can bring something back to the High Street.

“I think Rushden’s coming back to what it used to be twenty or thirty years ago, and we want to be a part of it."

Elevens Bakery was the chosen name as it’s a play on words of ‘elevenses’, and being at 121 (the sum of 11x11) High Street, it all fitted together nicely.

The plan for Elevens Bakery isn’t to just stay put, however, as bosses are hoping to expand with ‘another one or two’ by the end of the year, having looked at more premises in Finedon, Kettering, Wellingborough and Bedford.

Elevens Bakery will be open on weekdays from 7am until 2pm, Saturdays from 8am until 3pm and Sundays from 9am until 2pm.