January 14th, 2026
Walk past Layers Bakery in East London after 6pm, and you’ll notice the aroma of freshly baked bread and pastries that fills the air. They bake their products strictly at night to ensure the freshest, crispiest baked goods are ready for the next day’s customers.
Born from a desire to bring exceptional sourdough bread and viennoiserie pastries to the wholesale market, Layers is a baked goods supplier and café with community at its core. From elements of the architecture to the small-scale supply chain, recyclable packaging and the carefully chosen organisations it supports, Layers Bakery shines as a truly responsible brand.
Layers Bakery was established in 2024 by Giulia Agnoli, former Head Baker at Fallow and Hedone Bakery in Nine Elms, hospitality entrepreneur Chelsea Finch, founder of District Coffee and Where’s Fred’s, and Faye Weatherburn, Hedone’s former Head of Pastry. The trio drew from their years of experience and passion for the craft.
Ethical by design, Layers has baked sustainability and care into every element of the business.
Becoming the responsible supplier they wanted
The aim was to create outstanding freshly-baked goods (arriving with customers by 7am at the latest) that they would be proud to display in their own cafes, always asking themselves, “If I were a customer, what would I want?”.
Chelsea was constantly searching for outstanding sourdough and speciality pastries for her London cafes. So, after Hedone closed, she reconnected with Giulia. On Layers Bakery’s beginnings, founder Giulia says, “Half-jokingly, I mentioned that perhaps one day I would open something of my own. That conversation led to a catch-up. From there, our ideas, ambitions, and shared vision began to take shape and turn into reality three years later.”
Layers Bakery exists in a space between a factory and an independent café that bakes only for its own shop, doing as much as possible in-house. The bakery is nestled in the Goodluck Hope island development by Ballymore.
Built with sustainability in mind
Rather than retrofitting an existing space to make it greener, the bakery was purpose-built by Common Ground Workshop. Thus, incorporating eco-conscious, circular materials. For example, the cladding incorporates recycled paper wall linings by Honext.
The warm and welcoming design combines open industrial-style white shelves for the loaves of bread and a terrazzo main counter. Meanwhile, their open-plan kitchen ensures customers feel connected to the daily workings and theatrics of the bakery, as they watch the bakers twirl and shape fresh dough. The design was nominated for Arch Daily Building of The Year 2025.
Seasonality is at the heart of Layers Bakery, which leaves room for ample creativity to try new things. For example, the Everything Bagel croissant, and English strawberry and lemon verbena pastries to celebrate Wimbledon. This agile, small-batch approach ensures the bakers can see what’s a hit with customers, without the waste risks.
Layers of carefully sourced ingredients
Layers Bakery is named after the lamination process of repeatedly folding butter into the pastry dough. This forms the delicate layers and a signature flaky texture. Cut into the cross-section of a loaf of sourdough and you’ll find layers of gluten and air within the crumb structure.
As a responsible brand, Layers’ supply chain of ingredients is small-scale and as local as possible. All of their flour comes from Wildfarmed, a cooperative that centres regenerative farming practices. Wildfarmed’s end-to-end systems prioritise soil health and biodiversity and protect farmer welfare.
The creamy milk and signature pastry butter that’s folded in to create the eponymous layers is from The Estate Dairy. This collective sources produce from small, ethical UK suppliers. Previously, Layers’ specialist butter came from France; buying it from The Estate Dairy reduces food miles.
Meanwhile, Cackleberry Farms’ free-range eggs take pride of place on Layers’ brunch menu. Arlington White Cacklebean golden yolk eggs travel from the Cotswolds to London twice a week and arrive ready to be served sunny side up on toasted sourdough.
Giulia says, “Our aim is to build long-term relationships with our suppliers and customers, uphold high standards of quality, and operate in a way that is thoughtful and consistent with our values. These include working responsibly, transparently, and with intention. We choose our partners very carefully. But one business we’d love to work with is Cobble Lane Cured, for our sandwich selection.”
Combating food waste and transforming it into exciting new products
Another innovative facet of Layers Bakery’s responsible brand practices is its commitment to reducing food wastage. They make homemade Marmite-style spread by soaking hunks of leftover toasted sourdough in water and yeast for two days, squeezing and reducing the mixture down until it becomes yeast extract. The team spreads the umami-rich byproduct into cheese toasties in the café for customers to enjoy.
In partnership with Origin Coffee, they’ve developed a series of limited-edition, zero-waste bakes, sold in eight bakeries across London. Crafted with surplus bakery ingredients, the second batch of Origin x Layers cakes and pastries includes the Kimchi Cube. They make it from fermented vegetable trimmings. Their Earl Grey and Orange Danish pastries feature infused cream made from surplus tea leaves. They also create the Apple Croissant Cookie using flaky trimmings from their house croissant dough.
Giving back to their community and beyond
Through the sale of every Bread Basket, designed to celebrate life’s simple pleasures — fresh bread, butter and jam — Layers Bakery donates to Strength & Stem. A charity and social enterprise, Strength & Stem upskills female victims of modern slavery through holistic floristry courses. They offer an eight-month Flowers for the Future programme and also teach pre-vocational skills, like relationship building and CV writing.
Fresh flowers, just like fresh bread, represent joy and new beginnings. The therapeutic nature of floristry helps survivors to heal from their trauma and provides them with a fresh start. Through the Bread Baskets, the program will encourage even more women to grow and flourish.
Layers Bakery operates in E14, close to Canary Wharf. Commuters can pop into the bakery for a morning croissant, while residents of Goodluck Hope can head downstairs to enjoy a leisurely breakfast. Built on the waterfront, the island district is celebrated for its community-focused urban regeneration.
Even before they officially opened, the trio invited the local community into Layers to get to know them. They put on special events, like pasta making nights and children’s sourdough baking classes. Inspiring the next generation of master bakers and helping them learn about where their food comes from.
What’s next for Layers Bakery?
Giulia explains, “We’re working on starting many events and classes for the residents — as we are very grateful towards the community and all the support they have given us — and anybody who is into baking and wants to learn more! We think that growth should come as a natural result of doing things properly, not at the expense of what defines us.”
Much like a deliciously crisp pain au chocolat, Layers Bakery keeps its principles of unwavering quality. While also giving back to the people around them. As the team builds on the success of their first year, it’s clear that Layers Bakery is a responsible brand that leads by example, being the change they want to see in their community.
Written by Misha Zala.
Illustrated by Jessica Marwood.
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