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16
Jan
'We probably got the location wrong', says owner of Harrogate pâtisserie
The co-owner of a high-end pâtisserie that closed last week after just 15 months on Harrogate’s Cold Bath Road has said they “probably got the location wrong”.
Pudding Lab opened in September 2024 and offered unique desserts. The apple crumble choux bun, for example, combined a choux pastry bun with green craquelin, apple compote, cinnamon crème pâtissière, vanilla whipped ganache, apple caramel and oat crumble.
The formula – high-end food in a high-street café setting – has proven popular in Boston Spa, where owners Ashley Close and Kian Lian still trade from their original premises.
The Pudding Lab's giant blueberry and apple crumble choux bun.
But despite the novelty value and high quality of the food, the business partners, who once appeared together on TV's Bake Off – the Professionals, found that takings were not as high as predicted.
Mr Close told the Stray Ferret:
I think we under-estimated the footfall. In the 10- or 15-minute walk from the town centre there are plenty of other places to go, and going the other way, people living that close to the town centre may be more inclined to go further afield.
One thing we were constantly reminded of was the parking situation – you often have to park some distance away, which doesn’t help.
I get that it’s a tough industry to be in these days – the prices of produce are rising and staff costs are going up – but I’m not going to make excuses. I think we probably got the location wrong on Cold Bath Road. We’d have been better off in the town centre, or Leeds or York.
Kian Lian (left) and Ashley Close. Pic: Pudding Lab.
He said he thought they may have turned things around with more persistence, but they were impatient for results.
He added:
There are lots of reasons why it may not have worked. If we’d given it longer than 15 months – perhaps a couple of years – it might have worked, but we wanted to grow faster than that.
It was a choice between sticking with Harrogate or going down other routes, and we’ve chosen to try other options.
The Boston Spa shop will stay open – it's getting stronger and stronger every year – and we do have other plans, but I don’t want to say anything about that just yet.
It is not yet known what business will move into Pudding Lab’s former premises on Cold Bath Road, but the Stray Ferret will report on it as soon as anything is announced.
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