A NEW bakery building is the icing on the cake for a business whose stock, machinery and ingredients were destroyed in Storm Desmond.

Almost 14 months after Ginger Bakers' old site on Kendal's Dockray Hall Industrial Estate was flooded, there's plenty of reason to smile for managing director Lisa Smith and her team.

The firm has opened in a purpose-built 2,300sq ft unit at Lakeland Food Park, Plumgarths, which is two-and-a-half times as big as the previous bakery.

The move will see the business create two jobs by 2018 and was made possible thanks to a £30,000 Cumbria Growth Fund grant, through Cumbria Chamber of Commerce.

This contributed towards the £150,000 cost of equipping the new bakery.

Lisa said:“When Storm Desmond hit in December 2015, we had 4ft of water in our bakery in Dockray Hall Industrial Estate.

“Everything was wiped out. All our Christmas stock, machinery, ingredients.”

To make matters worse, Lisa’s home in Castle Crescent, Kendal, was also flooded.

Astonishingly, Ginger Bakers was back in production within a week thanks to Aidan Monks of Lovingly Artisan, who offered the use of his bakery.

Lisa said: “It was an incredibly generous gesture. We were baking at night and he baked during the day.”

Three weeks later Ginger Bakers moved into a vacant unit at Plumgarths, hastily equipped thanks to a flood recovery grant also facilitated by Cumbria Chamber of Commerce.

A chance conservation with John Geldard of Plumgarths paved the way for a new bakery.

Lisa said: “He was checking on how we were doing and said ‘Is there anything we can do to help?’ I said a new bakery would be fantastic and, to my surprise, he said ‘yes’.”

Work began in July and Ginger Bakers moved in at the end of January.

Although the business is a tenant of Plumgarths, it would not have been able to equip the new bakery as it has without Cumbria Growth Fund.

The fund offered grants of between £10,000 and £1m to help businesses grow and create or safeguard jobs.

The business now employs five staff, which will rise to seven by 2018 as the order book fills up.

Ginger Bakers supplies fruit cakes, loaf cakes and tray bakes, including a gluten-free range, mostly to cafes, coffee shops and delis, not just in Cumbria but across the country.