A POPULAR online baker from Northumberland is planning to take her business to the high street as she makes final preparations for her first in-person bakery.
Having "always dreamt" of opening her own bakery, after earmarking a location at 4a Battle Hill on Hexham's High Street, Eleanor Waugh, the mind behind El Bakes, is moving a step closer to fulfilling that goal.
Utilising the years of experience she gained since first whisking and mixing with her grandmother at age three, El, a dental nurse at Hexham Dental Clinic, set up an Instagram page in 2018 to share recipes and document her baking.
During the COVID-19 lockdown, her page gained more followers, and she started taking orders and selling her goods. El, who specialises in bespoke brownies, cupcakes, tray bakes, and treat boxes, later began selling her stock at Hexham Farmers Market.
In September 2025, she set up Cake Shed - an unmanned service which allows customers to pick up sweet treats from outside El's Haydon Bridge base, without her being present. It is fitted with CCTV, an honesty box and a card reader so that customers can serve themselves; "it's been a great success", she said.
As of today, her Facebook page has 3.1k followers, and her Instagram page has almost 4k followers.
"I've always dreamt of having a little bakery," she said.
"I actually got in touch with the council in 2023 to see who owned the building at 4a Battle Hill. I work at Hexham dental clinic, so I watched it sit empty for years.
"When the building came up for sale, I had just fallen pregnant with my second child, so it wasn’t the right timing. Fast forward to the present, this opportunity came up, and the dream has become a reality."
The baker added that although she is "nervous" to go self-employed after 11 years of working in dentistry, "sometimes in life you have to take risks", as she doesn't want to think "what if".
El said she plans to "hopefully" open the bakery, at the building previously occupied by 'Getta Sandwich', by late spring, with a selection of sweet treats, savoury bites and coffee.
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