West Bakes Sutton to appear at this year’s Winter Wonderland

In 2020, as the pandemic reached its peak, husband-and-wife duo Lewis and Yasmin West found a creative outlet in baking cookies, turning their newfound hobby into a way to make the most of their time at home.

What started as a simple lockdown hobby soon led to sharing cookies with neighbours, and eventually, West Bakes opened its own unit at the St. Nicholas Centre in 2023.

Your Local Guardian got an exclusive look behind the scenes of West Bakes.

Lewis, 33, said: “The story behind West Bakes is actually quite a unique one.

“This started back in lockdown when we were unsure what would happen with both of our jobs.

“What started as an idea to just giving cookies to neighbours, one evening my beautiful wife decided to put our cookies on Etsy and lo and behold, our first order for 8,000 cookies.”

After completing that 8,000-cookie order on behalf of British Sugar, they then decided that they wanted to take it full scale.

Lewis added: “So, we then started to have local community centres, churches, and kitchens that effectively could help us scale and take this to the next step.

“As the years went on, we recognised that we needed a brand-new unit and that unit was at the St Nicholas Centre.”

The St Nicholas Centre is close to Lewis' heart as he had his first job at the centre when he was 14-years-old setting up and dismantling the market stores.

He said: "Coming back here and owning a place here felt really, really surreal”.

Over the last four years, West Bakes has provided more than one million cookies across the UK, Europe, America, and even the United Arab Emirates.

Lewis and Yasmin now lead a team of friendly, supportive staff, with one employee fondly describing the workplace as feeling "like a family."

One employee, Hope Bonner, said it was difficult to label just one great thing about working there.

(Image: Ezekiel Bertrand) Hope said: “It’s really hard to point just one thing about being part of the team at West Bakes because there’s so many different elements that make it a great atmosphere to be around.

“But I would say how Yasmin and Lewis are so welcome and inclusive with everyone.

“For me, it’s mainly about the community. I love serving and seeing shoppers who are familiar faces.

“It’s great to give back to the community, connect with people, and check in to see how they’re doing.”

As well as being a stand-alone cookie shop, West Bakes has its own delivery van and service, with some going as far as Milton Keynes, and others going even further.

(Image: Ezekiel Bertrand) On top of cookies, they make cookie pies, which are cookies in a pie format and could come with kinder bueno, milk chocolate and red velvet inside.

(Image: Ezekiel Bertrand) He previously said the most unique thing about West Bakes Cookies is the size of their cookies, calling it “the ultimate standout”.

He said: “Our cookies are five ounces, so we try to stay away from the traditional things.

“We provide something to the audience and hope to make them question how we made the cookie and how we made them rise.

"The size shape and taste of the cookies are definitely the best things about West Bakes Cookies."

(Image: Ezekiel Bertrand)

The cookies are going to Hyde Park’s Winter Wonderland this Christmas.

Yasmin said that she was “really excited”, though slightly nervous as it can be difficult to plan for such a large-scale event.

Following on from the event, Yasmin said: “We are really hoping that from Winter Wonderland we will be able to get lots of exposure.

“Our short-term goal would be to open a store in central London or somewhere busier.

“And then our ultimate five-year goal would be to expand into the UAE.”

One person who recognises Lewis and Yasmin’s ambitions is Jess Stevens, another employee, who said West Bakes stands because of the level of “passion” that the couple have into “making these cookies” and that they “really know where they want to go with it and put so much time and effort into making these cookies”.

Jude Thadeus Osei-Kuffour, a regular customer and security staff at the St Nicholas Centre, said his favourite cookie was the Kinder Bueno cookie because “I love the chocolate and the hazelnut”.

Hyde Park Winter Wonderland will open on Thursday (November 21) and stay open every day from 10am to 10pm until January 5, with the exception of Christmas Day.

Lewis said: “Winter Wonderland is uncharted territory for us, and it’s taken us about two years to get involved with them, and now we’re finally there.”

West Bakes Cookies itself is open from 12pm to 5pm on Wednesdays to Saturdays, and 12pm to 4pm on Sundays.