Stag Works Sheffield: Half price food and drink as independent vegan bakery opens shop with new coffee vendor

Up until now, Lovely Rita's Bakehouse has served its vegan baked goods to customers through other vendors throughout the city, at market events, or via an online ordering service.

But following its first year of success, the bakery is now preparing to open the doors to an adjoining shop at Stag Works, Highfield, later this week. Customers will be able to sit in and enjoy a range of freshly-baked and 100 per cent vegan bread and pastries, paired with a beverage from Puck & Pollen. 

Along with brewed coffees, Puck & Pollen will have an array of hot and cold drinks available on the menu, from flower tea, kombucha and sodas, housemade chai to their own unique servings, such as biscoff, ‘notella’ or peanut butter lattes. Drinks and baked goods will be available for takeaway or to sit in, with limited seating available. 

The pair behind the businesses are Jim McGill of Lovely Rita’s Bakehouse, and Courtney Bordman of Puck & Pollen, both with over 10 years of experience in their industries.

For Courtney, this new opening marks a dream come true. She said: “I have been hoping to open my own coffee shop for a long time but for one reason or another, the right opportunity has never appeared, until now. 

“Jim and I met at a previous job and so we already know we can work well together and have similar visions of what we hope to achieve by teaming up.”

Jim said: “I have been running as a wholesale business for sometime now and I have a great network of loyal customers and businesses. But I have been really wanting to open to the public as a shop too, and after speaking with Courtney, we found that we were both at a similar point in our careers where we were ready to take a next step and decided that a collaboration could be a great idea and beneficial for both of us.”

This Saturday (September 16) will see the launch of the shop and coffee bar with a soft opening from 9am to 3pm, offering a variety of breads, pastries and doughnuts, coffee and other hot and cold beverages. The first 50 customers through the door will also be able to enjoy 50 per cent of their purchases, as an opening day offer. 

Lovely Rita’s Bakehouse and Puck & Pollen are located at Stag Works, on John Street, Highfield. It will be open seven days a week, from 8.30am to 3pm Monday to Friday, and 9am to 3pm on the weekends.