Former teacher Matt and former solicitor Suze swapped the structured worlds of education and commercial law for the unpredictable life of bakery owners just over two years ago. What started as a small kitchen table business has flourished into MOST, a beloved bakery in Altrincham with a team of 20, serving thousands of customers each week. Their journey is filled with highs, lows, and plenty of flour-covered memories.
Here’s the story of how Matt and Suze Townley built MOST into a cornerstone of Altrincham’s independent food scene.
The story was originally told at Altrincham HQ’s Alex & His Sisters networking event in Altrincham
From Facebook Pokes to Flour-Dusted Dreams
Before MOST Bakery became a household name in Altrincham, there was a quirky and modern beginning — Matt and Suze met through Facebook. “We actually met on Facebook when it was cool to poke people!” Suze laughs, recalling the early days of their relationship. It’s a fun fact that encapsulates the blend of serendipity and connection that has defined both their personal and professional journeys.
Their lives, however, were set on very different tracks before they found themselves elbow-deep in dough. Matt was working as a teacher, and Suze was a solicitor, both leading structured, career-driven lives that left little room for the kind of creative freedom they craved.
Navigating Loss and Finding a New Path
Before Matt and Suze ventured into the world of baking, they were on a high after their wedding in 2012, enjoying the start of their married life. But that joy was soon overshadowed by a series of devastating personal tragedies that would ultimately shape their journey.
“We literally got home from our honeymoon, and my mum and dad came to see us. My mum had had cancer before, and she said, you know, my cancer has come back,” Suze sadly recalls. “And that really was just back to reality.”
Tragedy continued to strike when Matt’s father began to struggle with severe mental health challenges related to his job. Suze shared, “At the same time, your [Matt’s] dad had developed work-related stress… it felt like an almost overnight thing where he had a catastrophic breakdown, and it felt like we just couldn’t help him. And it was tragic, it really was.” Over an 18-month period, Matt lost his dad to suicide, and Suze lost her mum to cancer.
During this tough time, Matt turned to bread baking, initially as a way to cope. He explained, “I was getting into the burnout zone in teaching, and the bread baking became less of a hobby and more of a sort of coping strategy.” Baking became a bright spot in the midst of their grief and a therapeutic escape from the weight of their personal losses.
Despite the hardships, there were still moments of joy, like the birth of their daughter, Olivia, in 2013. “We were personally going through really difficult times with our parents, and then we did have a really bright spot… Olivia,” Suze shared. But even this joyful moment came with its challenges, as Suze dealt with a difficult labour and a tough recovery.
Suze also endured a ruptured ectopic pregnancy while on holiday in Crete in 2016, which was another traumatic and life-threatening event. Reflecting on these times, Suze said, “It was a really difficult time… I was working quite long hours as a solicitor, and I felt like I was missing out, you know, on things like the school run, which Matt was picking up.”
This period of intense grief and struggle prompted a major reevaluation of their lives. They knew they needed to make changes, not just to cope with their losses but to create a new path forward. “After everything that had happened, we were like, we need to rebalance here, we need to reevaluate… you realise that life is short, and you’ve got to prioritise,” Suze reflected.
That shift in priorities led them to One Mile Bakery, an opportunity that Suze discovered almost by chance when a franchise agreement landed on her desk at work. She read through it and immediately thought of Matt. This would eventually lead them to leave their old lives behind and start something new together — something that would bring comfort, purpose, and community, helping them move forward after such a difficult chapter.
From Classroom and Courtroom to Covid and the Kitchen: The Journey Begins
The seed for MOST was first planted with Matt’s involvement in One Mile Bakery, where he found a way to channel her passion for baking. “One Mile Bakery was the seed for this, really,” Matt recalls. “I ran that for three years. I started in the house and people came to my house for classes. And I also delivered bread by bike to people once a week, within a mile of my home, that was the whole kind of ethos.” The concept quickly resonated with the community, and Matt’s baking classes and bread deliveries gained a loyal following.
But it was Covid and lockdown that encouraged the couple to think bigger. “Since we were in lockdown, we could no longer run classes and demand for bread went through the roof” explained Matt. “We had to pivot the business from classes to focus on deliveries, but we needed to scale.” A conversation with one of their customers, Tracy Vardy of Sim Trava, was the turning point that led to the business moving into the Cross Street unit and becoming MOST Bakery as we know it today.
They knew they had something special, but scaling it required courage and a leap of faith. “We were doing it from the kitchen, it was pretty organic growth,” Matt explains. “Then, we went into the unit at Cross Street, and we just started building from there.”
The Leap to MOST: A Family Venture
With a growing family and the momentum from One Mile Bakery, Matt and Suze took the plunge and established MOST Bakery in the heart of Altrincham. “We always wanted to create something that felt really different. That felt like you were coming to a space that was welcoming, warm, and felt like an extension of our home,” Suze says. The name MOST was chosen to not only reflect their commitment to offering the ‘most’ in terms of quality, creativity, and customer service, but also to reflect that family was at the heart of their business, with MOST being their initials: Matt, Olivia and Suze Townley.
In the beginning, Matt and Suze did everything themselves, juggling multiple roles to keep the bakery running. “We just did it all ourselves at first, just figuring things out as we went along,” Matt recalls. They were baking, managing staff, handling social media, and more — all while raising their family.
But as business picked up, it became clear that they couldn’t do it all alone. “I think probably everyone that’s a business owner will know that you wear many hats,” Suze says. “Trying to deal day to day with production, ordering, and people management – it’s a lot.”
Learning to Grow: Investing in People
Recognizing the need for support, Matt and Suze started to build a trusted team around them. This decision was pivotal in transforming MOST from a small, family-run operation into a bustling bakery with a loyal customer base. “It’s nerve-wracking, as a new business, to spend any money,” Suze admits. “But actually, I think you just have to; you have to invest to free up your own time so that you can grow the business.”
Matt agrees, emphasizing the importance of surrounding themselves with people who share their passion and values. “You just have to start finding trusted people to work with, to outsource some of those things,” he says. “It allowed us to focus on growing the business and also gave us back some much-needed balance.”
Their approach to growth centered on maintaining the high standards they set from the beginning — almost everything is baked in house from scratch, and customer service remains at the forefront. This dedication has helped MOST stand out in Altrincham’s vibrant food scene.
Highs and Lows: The Reality of Running a Bakery
Running MOST has been filled with unforgettable moments, some joyous, others challenging. One of the toughest was dealing with an unexpected flood, a crisis that tested their resilience. “We had horrendous, torrential rain… M&S was flooded, and quite a few other places. The bakers came in and there was just water everywhere, all over the floor,” Suze explains. “We were just like, ‘Oh my gosh, how are we going to deal with this?’” Another recent challenge was a car crashing through the door of the bakery in the early hours.
Despite the stress and uncertainty, Matt and Suze managed to keep things in perspective, often finding humour in the chaos. “We can kind of giggle about it now in a sort of delirious way,” Matt says, reflecting on the ups and downs of running a bakery.
Balancing Business and Family
One of the unique aspects of MOST is that it’s a true family business, but working so closely with your partner comes with its own set of challenges. Matt and Suze spend nearly every waking moment together, either at the bakery or at home, making it essential to strike a balance between work and personal life.
“I mean, it can be full-on,” Suze admits. “It would be really easy to talk about the bakery all the time, and sometimes we just have to reclaim the evening.” Even their daughter plays a role in ensuring some boundaries are set – “She reminds us we have to talk about something else at dinner!”
For Matt and Suze, being each other’s biggest cheerleaders is key to making the dynamic work – “That’s incredibly powerful,” Matt notes. But they also recognize the need to compartmentalize their roles as co-directors and spouses. “It’s remembering when to talk to each other as a co-director, rather than a spouse. Spouse conversations can sometimes be a little bit different.”
Competition in Altrincham’s Evolving Food Scene
MOST’s journey unfolded during a time of rapid change in Altrincham’s food scene, as the town transitioned from a niche indie spot to a bustling hub of culinary competition. When MOST first started, it was just them, Lovingly Artisan and Greggs, but soon larger players like Gail’s entered the market.
“We were about three/four months old when someone tipped us off that Gail’s were coming up North and most likely to Altrincham… it gave us some sleepless nights” Matt recalls.
The prospect of competing with well-funded chains is intimidating. “You’ve got a company which has got incredible firepower, and you’re just thinking, well, that’s just it. They’re just going to come in, they’re going to turn out the lights.” But instead of driving MOST out of business, the competition ultimately highlighted what made them special.
“The response, actually, when Gail’s announced they were opening, it took us by surprise… so many people were like, ‘Well, what about MOST? What about those guys?’ and seemed almost cross on our behalf”, Suze remembers. The business even saw an increase in sales soon after the announcement as the community flocked to support them. This support underscored the unique position MOST held in Altrincham — a bakery that offers something different.
The MOST Difference: Baking from Scratch, Building Community
MOST’s secret sauce lies in its commitment to quality, community, and a personal touch that you can’t replicate in a larger chain. “We bake from scratch every day… we can pivot quite easily,” Suze explains. “People say, ‘Oh, we want this or that,’ and we can do it. So I think we are a different thing. And I think people realise that.”
The bakery has become more than just a place to buy bread and pastries; it’s a community hub where regulars feel known and valued. “We get a lot of repeat customers coming in… it’s nice to feel like you have a usual that’s remembered for you when you go in, and also to know that somebody has just remembered something about your life from last time you came in,” Matt says.
Looking Forward: MOST’s Vision for the Future
From floods to balancing family life and navigating competition, Matt and Suze’s journey with MOST is a testament to resilience, adaptability, and community spirit. They’ve built more than just a bakery; they’ve created a space where people feel seen, valued, and at home.
As they continue to grow, Matt and Suze remain committed to what makes MOST special: baking with passion, supporting their team, and staying rooted in the Altrincham community. The Flour Couple’s story is far from over
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