Brighouse baking family and biscuit artists success that stretches back more than a century

It is a family passion which stretches back more than a century.
Lottie Shaw's bakery in Brighouse as production is ramped up for Christmas.Lottie Shaw's bakery in Brighouse as production is ramped up for Christmas.
Lottie Shaw's bakery in Brighouse as production is ramped up for Christmas.

Lottie Shaw’s great aunts Mary and Elizabeth Harrison made a name for themselves baking and selling their original recipes of regional specialities.

Little did they know, it was the beginning of a legacy, a journey of a family’s passion for baking, handed down through three generations and the start of Lottie Shaw’s business, which is run by Ms Shaw.

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She says the business is busier than ever. “It has been a challenging year,” she said. “But we have been fortunate to have kept going and it has turned out to be our busiest year ever.

“I think food makes a perfect gift and people like the heritage which comes with our products.”

The business in Brighouse moved to a new site four years ago and now employs 36 people.

It sells through independent businesses such as garden centres and delicatessens but has also moved more towards direct deliveries to customers.

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Lottie Shaw’s mince pies – which are deeper filled this year – have proved popular, as have gingerbread reindeers and Santas. Crowned as the ‘Official Taste Of Yorkshire’ in 2018, Ms Shaw and husband Ian built a 12,500 sq ft state-of-the-art bakery, just a few miles from where her great aunts’ and late grandfather ran the bakery over a century ago.

Ms Shaw said combining sustainable practices with a pride and passion for the tradition of ‘scratch baking’ has been key to success.

Lottie Shaw’s has a small team of biscuit artists who are skilled at decorating the novelty gingerbread.

In 2022 Lottie Shaw’s is looking forward to opening a new chocolate workshop and is proud to partner with local producers where possible.

This year it is donating left-over products to a Brighouse food bank, Focus for Hope, and to Forget Me Not hospice and Airedale Hospital.

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