A KENDAL family bakery firm came very close to winning a top northern food award judged at Lowther Show, near Penrith.

Staff of Life bakery in Kendal's Finkle Street is run by Simon and Julie Thomas, who had to settle for second prize in the closely-fought Best Stands Awards hosted by Cumbria Rural Enterprise Agency, in the Taste of the North West marquee at Lowther last Friday.

The firm's Staff of Life trade stand was described by judges as "an excellent presentation - a real eye-catcher - with knowledgeable staff."

The Kendal bakery focus is on speciality breads home-baked for local markets, and it has more than two hundred customers across Cumbria.

Simon is the head baker of the family, while Julie - also currently studying interior design - has become something of an expert on window dressing. In their seventh year of trading, the bakery employs eight staff and Simon describes business is "fantastically good, and growing".

The Thomases are convinced a good trade stand presentation makes a worthwhile and lasting impression on the public, and they begin planning their stand theme' six months before a show like Lowther.

Their next stand presentation will appear at the County Show at Crooklands, near Kendal, on September 9, where they expect to sell out by lunchtime.

"A show like Lowther means no sleep for three nights for me, as I bake bread all night - prior to each day at the show, ensuring Julie takes only fresh bread to the stand", said Simon.

"We normally expect to sell out of bread by around noon each day at Lowther".

Simon said while some customers bought a few items, others took up to 16 loaves to fill their freezer, as the bread would freeze very well.

He said Italian breads were most popular, along with aniseed, parmesan cheese, roast red peppers. And rye sour-dough bread made with wild yeast, which originates back with the Vikings, was another in demand.

Simon said it was both his mother and grandmother who taught him to bake "My grandfather was a bit of a character, and would not eat bread more than a day old, so my grandmother became an expert breadmaker and taught me lots, as did my mother."

Simon's growth plans are to begin baking ethnic-style bread, such as nans and pita bread, which he said would make an excellent sandwich base.

The Cumbria Rural Enterprise Agency-run best stand awards are an established part of the tradition of the Lowther Show and began nearly 20 years ago.

Bob Clark, chief executive of CREA, said: "Over the years, we have seen the standard of exhibition improve enormously because of the incentive of competition generated by our awards".