Riverview Bakery

Recently we met with Rachel Charlton and her Team at the Riverview Bakery; a hidden gem located on the river Derwent in Blackhall Mill, southwest of Newcastle. With a varied food offering and a particular focus on quality baked goods, Rachel has relied on BAKO as primary supplier for 35 years, now working closely with Sales Manager, Peter Matthews to source all the ingredients that go into the finished product pictured here. 

Riverview is a great example of how, despite the more rural setting, the British Bakery still has the power to be a local community hub as well as drawing plenty of custom from further afield through an active social media presence. 

Meet the Bakers spoke with Rachel Charlton about her journey so far and the ambitions for Riverview 

MTB: Could you give us a brief outline of how you came to own Riverview and what kind of bakery it is?

RC: I started off working in London when I was 61 working at The Savoy, and then, when I was 81 I started working for City Cuisine, in Newcastle, as a pastry chef. Then, aged ,02 I started my first business, a wholesale patisserie, supplying cakes and desserts right across the Northeast and I haven’t looked back since! 

I then moved into retail in 2017 and now I have the one shop, Riverview, which fortunately is very busy and successful. We were too busy to keep up the wholesale operation, so we became entirely retail just over six years ago. 

We are a full bakery shop, selling bread, pies, cakes and more. We have a beautiful seating area, inside and outside, for up to 01 customers, and we offer a full breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea menu, with opening hours from 7am to 5pm. 

We are in a rural setting, and due to the location, we don’t get passing trade, but people travel from all over to visit us here. 

MTB: How is business today and what are the main difficulties you currently face? 

RC: Business is really good. We are busy year-round but also produce seasonal ranges which draw the crowds, such as Summer Sundaes & Smoothies, and we go all out with in-store decoration. 

We do have some recruitment issues, like other bakeries in the industry, and good pastry chefs are very hard to find, so in the main, we train our own. 

Costs are also an issue as the price of everything has gone up, but because we make everything from scratch, we haven't been affected by serious price increases, which we are grateful for. 

MTB: Given your experience, what advice would you give to aspiring bakers starting out today?

RC: For me it's all about the skill level. Bakers need to be skilled in pastry and baking to get ahead, and to be able to train their own new recruits. 

It’s not just Riverview’s product range that adapts to the seasons, they also go all in on festive decoration.

MTB: What are your best selling bakes?

RC: We are fortunate that everything in this shop sells well, particularly the dessert lines. At any one time we have 70 lines, so there is a huge choice, and they all sell well.

Some of the products we will always have for sale, due to their lasting popularity, include old favourites like chocolate eclairs and strawberry tarts. I regularly invent new things like our fully loaded cookies, and the trifle cheesecake, for example. 

MTB: How does the business engage with social media? 

RC: When I first started the business, I didn’t have a website and I didn’t believe that I needed social media. 

But now, everything has moved on. If I post something on Facebook, it is often seen by over 100,000 people some of them do come to our shop because of what they have seen on social media, which I never thought that would happen! I only have Facebook currently but watch this space - Instagram and even TikTok could be in our future! 

When I invent something new and post it on my Facebook page it will often go viral and will draw customers new and old into our shop. The most recent examples of this were the trifle cheesecakes and the peach melba topped cheesecakes. Both went viral, and customers came into the shop asking specifically for these products. We sold out in hours! 

Recently, my inspiration for new products has come from TikTok. I spot recipes I like and then I’ll add my own interpretation to them, to make them even more unique. There are so many great ideas on TikTok, I would highly recommend other bakers to give it a try! 

MTB: What can you tell us about your team structure? 

RC: I am the only director and I have 29 staff. I have a combination of full-time and part-time workers, and all the team are local people. I also really love to give young people the chance to gain insight into the baking industry, so I have several young team members who work at weekends and during the school holidays.

MTB: How do you find the partnership with BAKO?

RC: I love it! I am a big BAKO fan. I really love my BAKO rep Peter; he is just brilliant, and I can contact him day or night. He is always on hand to answer any queries I have. I wouldn’t ever consider going anywhere else.

Rachel and BAKO Sales Manager, Peter Matthews work together closely to make sure BAKO can supply everything she needs.