A popular artisan bakery renowned for its handmade sourdough breads and pastries is to open its third branch in Kent.

Grain & Hearth, which already has shops and cafes in Whitstable and Margate, is now expanding into Faversham town centre.

The business has taken on the lease of the former Fleur Bookshop off Preston Street and this week started to convert and refurbish the 200-year-old building.

The rise of the bakery in Kent since 2019 has been steered by director and head baker Adam Pagor.

A former librarian, the 38-year-old gave up his previous career to work in kitchens in London where he developed a skill and passion for baking.

He then began working at bakeries before deciding to leave the capital and move to Whitstable with his wife, Carmen, and their young family to go it alone.

“Initially, I set up a bakery in my garage supplying bread to shops and cafes,” he said.

“But then we decided to open our first shop selling sourdough breads and viennoiserie and it’s grown from there.”

He now employs about 20 staff, but the workforce is set to grow with the new shop and cafe in Faversham, which is due to open next month.

“We’ve actually had a huge response to our job advert in Faversham, which is very encouraging,” he says.

All the bread is baked at the business’s bakery headquarters in Whitstable where Adam also holds baking workshops, which have proved very popular.

The new shop in Faversham will be just yards from the already long-established Oscar’s bakery in Preston Street.

But Adam believes there is room for both to thrive.

“We will have a slightly different offer, including a cafe with seating, so I definitely think there’s room for two,” he said.

But like many businesses, it has been hit with escalating energy costs which he is having to manage.

“It’s more about survival rather than further growth so we have no future plans to expand, for the time being,” he says.

“We’ll see how it goes over the next two or three years.

“And, anyway, there’s a limit to how much bread we can produce from our bakery.”