Over the last 78 years, Bells of Lazonby has become well known as one of Cumbria’s most successful homegrown businesses, producing cakes and sweet treats that are enjoyed across the UK and beyond.


However, speak to managing director Tim Conder and he will tell you the team at its Edenholme Bakery are focused on more than just baking - they are on a mission to spread joy.
“We like to say that each individual treat we make is a moment of joy,” said Tim.
Last year it produced 105 million such moments and is on track to make 120 million more this year, supplying them to almost every UK retailer imaginable.
Bells of Lazonby also supplies its goods to Australia for sale at stores including Woolworths, shipping to ports on the east and west coast of the country.
The history of the business goes back to 1946 when John Bell, who passed away in 2022, began a bakery in Lazonby, making bread and rolls at home and delivering them alongside other groceries in a fleet of vans known as the ‘Bellsmobiles’.
The business evolved to have a chain of shops across the area selling a range of baked goods and now focuses its operations on working with all major UK supermarkets, wholesale, foodservice and national coffee shops.
It began developing its current location 40 years ago, a former railway yard and station on the Settle to Carlisle line, just along from the current Lazonby and Kirkoswald station.
In 2002, second generation owner Michael Bell saw the potential in the gluten-free market and set up a free-from bakery on the site.
"We have the two bakeries on two different sides of the road into the site," said Tim. "The left hand side is gluten, wheat and dairy free and then we also make a lot of vegan products from there.”
This includes Bells of Lazonby’s own gluten-free brand We Love Cake, which has grown to become the largest free-from sweet bakery brand in Australia in addition to sales in the UK.
About 50 per cent of the business’ trade is made up selling free-from and vegan cakes made in its specialist facility which, in industry jargon, is “fully segregated” - meaning that ingredients containing the allergens which can trigger adverse reactions never enter the building.
"We believe we were the first gluten, wheat and dairy free, dedicated facility in the UK," said Tim.