The owner of Bread Bin, the popular Altrincham bakery that closed suddenly in 2024 following a dispute with its landlord, has announced she is to reopen in Hale village.
Lisa Bindahnee will open the new Bread Bin in the former Hed Shed unit on Victoria Road later this year, some two years after her original bakery on New Street was forced to shut.
"I won't let someone else end my story," she wrote in a post announcing the news on Instagram. "I'm writing my own ending, whenever that may be, but I'm not ready to hang up my oven gloves yet."
Bindahnee, a former media lawyer who retired after a 30-year career to follow her lifelong dream of opening a bakery, first opened Bread Bin in a unit beneath The Address development on New Street in December 2023, after spending nearly four months and £350,000 of her own money fitting out the empty shell.
But just ten months later, a dispute over two allocated parking spaces led to Bindahnee withholding rent – and the landlord exercising its right to repossess the premises. Her pastry chef arrived for an early shift in October 2024 to find the doors locked and an eviction notice on the door, while Bindahnee herself was on a short break in Majorca. Eight staff were made redundant.
The closure prompted an outpouring of support from customers – and it was that support, she says, that ultimately persuaded her to start again.
"When we closed I went to Edinburgh for a short stint at Lannan, which was an incredible experience," she wrote, referring to the acclaimed Stockbridge bakery. "I then came home and did nothing for seven months. But customers kept messaging through Instagram asking if I was going to open again. Every time I thought my baking career was over, I'd receive a couple of very kind messages."
A sell-out pop-up at The Wizard Tea Rooms in Alderley Edge last August proved there was still an appetite for her bread and pastries. "It was a big success," she said. "I was shocked at how many old customers made the trip to Alderley Edge to see me."
The search for a new home was far from straightforward, however. "After 18 months I'd nearly given up looking for a new premises, when Olivia (my youngest team member) found a spot on Victoria Road," she wrote. "So, we're getting ready to do it all again."
Work is already under way on the corner unit, which has been repainted in Bread Bin's signature dark blue.
Bindahnee, who grew up in Wilmslow and has previously lived in Hale, began her legal career at London libel firm Schillings in 1993 before moving to Manchester, where she worked at Hammond and DLA Piper and at Granada TV. She set up her own firm in 2004, acting mainly for independent TV production companies – including several years working on The Royle Family – and later worked for Warner Bros.
Her switch to baking began in lockdown, when she got hooked on sourdough following the daily videos of French baker Richard Bertinet. She went on to train with Wayne Caddy at the School of Artisan Food, study pastry with the likes of Ottolenghi collaborator Helen Goh, and work part-time at Flour Water Salt in Macclesfield while still practising law.
The original Bread Bin quickly built a loyal following for its sourdough, viennoiserie and sweet treats.
"If you've been with us since New Street... thank you," she wrote. "If you're new here... thank you for finding us. See you in Hale."
An opening date is yet to be confirmed.
