A new bakery is set to open in a town’s rejuvenated high street next month.
Rachel Gasson, a nurse-turned-baker, has swapped the Folkestone Harbour Arm for a permanent home in the town's Old High Street.
The shop is called Rachel Leigh Bakes and first started trading on the Harbour Arm in 2022.
Now, the mum-of-four says “business is booming” and has decided to open her first shop in the heart of Folkestone on June 8.
"I absolutely loved being a nurse but working through the Covid-19 pandemic forced me to reflect on what I wanted for my own life," said the 34-year-old.
"My work-life balance wasn't great, and I knew I needed to take the leap and do something I was passionate about, but which also let me spend more time with my husband and children.
"My colleagues in intensive care always devoured my bakes and would get excited when I came into work with a cake tin.”
The baking stall was an instant hit at the Harbour Arm, regularly selling out with customers taking to social media to rave about favourites like cinnamon buns and cookie pie.
Other bakes include cheese scones with bacon jam and cardamom buns.
Mrs Gasson, who has lived in Folkestone nearly all her life, says her husband Matt has been “incredibly supportive” of her new venture and even fitted the electrics for the new shop.
She added: “The response to the stall was incredible, and I met so many lovely people there.
"But two Christmas markets and another baby later, I was struggling to keep up with the demand for baking from my tiny home kitchen, so I applied for the Creative Quarter and here we are.
“To think I have been walking down The Old High Street my whole life, never knowing that one day I would have my own little shop among so many talented creative businesses here, is really quite surreal."
She says her children Evelyn, 10, Charlie, eight, Violet, five, and Matilda, one, have been “diligently taste-testing” ahead of the grand opening.
Last year, Folkestone was named one of the best places to live on the coast in the UK for its "colourful shopping streets” and “artsy projects” by The Sunday Times.
The Old High Street was described as one of the “coolest and most colourful shopping streets in the land” at the heart of the “funky” Creative Quarter, full of artists, designers and performers.
The shop will be open from 8:30am to 2:30pm Wednesday to Friday, and from 9am to 3pm Saturdays and Sundays.
The bakery will also sell coffee with beans from local company &Bloss for customers to takeaway.
