A HOME baking business which started out as a hobby has now expanded after moving to a new premises in Basingstoke.

Bakedin was launched by Joe Munns six years ago in 2013 after he came up with the idea of a time-saving baking kit which still gave the full baking from scratch experience, but with less hassle.

The 40-year-old former IT worker sold his kits at school fetes, artisan markets and high street food festivals, before realising there was a gap in the market.

The business has since gone from strength to strength, and is now in thousands of UK shops and online, and is also exported to other countries, with top pastry chef Michel Roux OBE exclusively approving all the recipes.

To cater for the extra demand, the team has now moved premises from Wade Road to near B&Q, in Winchester Road, where Joe hopes they will remain for a number of years.

He said: “Our business has been growing for six years. We started in the kitchen and then moved to a premises in Wade Road but that became too small so we got some more space in the next building but that became too small. It’s expensive to move each time and we have to kit it all out so we can’t just move anywhere.”

The team moved into the carefully selected new venue last year, and had to hire a specialist company to help, with the entire job timed to perfection so that the business could continue running.

“We worked four long days to get ahead then shut the factory down and moved everything on a Friday,” explained Joe. “We could get back into production on the Monday.”

He hopes to stay at the current location for at least five years, and said it was important to remain in the town, adding: “I run the business with my brother Patrick and we are from Kingsclere and have lived in Basingstoke for 15 years. We like the area it has good connections and it has a good pool of talent around. It’s close to home for everyone who works there so it was important to stay in Basingstoke.”

Joe described his Bakedin journey as a “rollercoaster”, one of which he is very proud of, adding: “I’m definitely proud of the team and making careers for 20 people. It is very motivating doing something that you really care about. It doesn’t feel like working, although it’s a tough gig running your own business.”