It’s more than 20 years since the popular Mountstevens bakery shops shut down, but the thought of their classic tin or crusty loaves, jam doughnuts, celebration and fancy cakes, iced buns, custard tarts and sausage rolls can still make many a Bristolian's mouth water. Excellent artisan bakeries have sprung up all over the city in recent times but when we asked Bristol Live readers which shops they missed from years gone by, Mountstevens was high up on the list.
The brand’s story started back in 1911 when Henry and Ada Mountstevens opened a single store selling their delicious fresh bread and an assortment of other baked goods on St Marks Road. It ended abruptly one day in 2002, leaving hundreds of employees out of work.
Winding back to the beginning, the original shop became very successful and the couple gradually began to branch out by baking more and delivering their wares to be sold in shops around the city. The bewitching smell of bread, pastries and cakes straight from the oven would permeate whole neighbourhoods, with people queuing up to get their hands on the traditional-style fresh-baked delights.
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![An early photo of the Mountstevens bakery in Bristol](https://i2-prod.bristolpost.co.uk/incoming/article6821381.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/0_Mountstevens-bakery-early.jpg)
Passed down through the generations, it was Henry and Ada’s grandson, Gerald Mountstevens, who started to seriously expand the company’s production and trading opportunities by buying up and rebranding other bakery premises as they closed down, as well as supplying supermarkets and other retail outlets. Mountstevens’ first head office and large scale bakery opened at Clay Hill, Fishponds, in 1967, before moving again to premises on the nearby trading estate in 1982.
By that time the company had more than 40 shops and in 1986 the workforce had grown to 600, with many employees expecting to have a job for life within a caring, local firm. Eleven years later, in 1997, the Mountstevens name was displayed proudly above 93 shops and cafes across Bristol, Bath, Cheltenham, Gloucester and down to the south coast, but the business had reached a turning point and decided it could grow no more without the investment and expertise of a larger specialist business.
![Tasty treats for Gerald Mounstevens, chairman of Mountstevens bakery and long-serving staff in 1998. From left, Rose Gregory, Rose Salmon, Barbara Cooke, Janet Durbin, and Esme Griffin](https://i2-prod.bristolpost.co.uk/incoming/article6821397.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/0_Mountstevens-Gerald-and-staff.jpg)
That was when the newly-formed northern-based giant Lyndale Foods stepped in and bought out Mountstevens in a multi-million pound deal. The old brand and its particular style of baked goods was able to keep on filling the tummies of its South West customers for another five years.
It lost a handful of its less successful high street shops along the way, but staff fully expected to be delivering its scrumptious delights well into the 21st century. Sadly, it was not to be. In October 2001 Lyndale sold the Mountstevens chain to Cleary Foods, who declared it had no plans to cut jobs or close any of the company's, by then, 81 shops.
The end came swiftly and without any warning on Wednesday, July 24, 2002. Those turning up for work at the Fishponds HQ that morning were told to go home as Mountstevens was “unable to meet ongoing commitments”. The managers at its bakeries across Bristol were instructed to shut up shop immediately, leaving shelves full of pastries, buns and cakes to rot in window displays and puzzled customers standing outside empty-handed.
![A customer peers through the window of a Mountstevens branch just after all the shops shut in 2002](https://i2-prod.bristolpost.co.uk/incoming/article6821391.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/0_Mountstevens_closed-2002.jpg)
Around 800 loyal employees lost their jobs when the company went bust owing millions of pounds, including staff wages. A statement from Cleary Foods, which was eventually dissolved in 2011, said that its directors had been forced into the decision with “deep regret”.
It was a sad demise for the Bristol family bakery that started out with so much hope and promise. But although it’s long gone, it’s not yet forgotten while the thought of just one more slice of a Mountstevens uncut loaf, or a sugary bite through the shell of a generously jammy doughnut, still lives on in the memories of those who enjoyed them in days gone by.
Do you miss the Mountstevens bakeries? What was your favourite treat from their shops and cafes? Do let us know in the comments sections below.
One Bristol Live reader commented: "I remember the one in Baldwin Street around 1980. They sold delicious cheese and onion pasties long before anyone else thought of them. They also sold chips as well as soup which was really unusual then.
"Their lemon Danish pastries were legendary, with a pool of lemon syrup and zest in the middle. I've dreamed of them ever since. On a Friday the girls in our office would treat ourselves to cheese & onion pasty, chips and a lemon Danish."
This article was first published in March 2022 and has been updated for 2024