Zoe Robertson steps into the bakery with Robbie Livingstone following the opening of the third Northern Rye location in North Shields
Northern Rye bakery has just opened its third location, inside the hip creative hub at Harbour House – a converted furniture warehouse in North Shields. There’s a lot of buzz around the latest addition to the town, which has seen extensive council and private investment over the last few years. With nearly eight years in business under his belt, Robbie Livingstone – the founder of Northern Rye – has seen a great deal of change in the region’s food landscape and he’s excited about this latest development – not least because he’s opened his third location there.
Robbie, 44, was born on the Isle of Bute. He moved to the outskirts of Glasgow when his parents divorced and spent most of his childhood in the city, which he describes as being “like Newcastle, but edgier.” Having moved to Sheffield and been made redundant twice by the same print firm, in 2016 he decided he couldn’t face it happening again and would have to be his own boss. His mum said if he wanted to work for himself it had to be something he was passionate about. That something turned out to be sourdough.
He enrolled on a course with the School of Artisan Food and managed to get part of the course fees subsidised due to being made redundant. He quickly realised how much he loved it. “I wanted to do pastries and then ended up getting obsessed with bread,” he says. When the course was complete, he moved to Newcastle with his wife, Alex.
“I bought some bakery equipment I could use at home with the money I had left. The School of Artisan Food put me in touch with Anna Hedworth, and she suggested I do a pop-up at Cook House.” In December 2017, the first pop-up was announced on the Cook House newsletter, which went out to more than 2,000 people. That Saturday there were queues out the door of Anna’s shipping container restaurant in Ouseburn. Word got around and soon Robbie was running the pop-ups in several locations, including Ouseburn Coffee Co’s Harvest Canteen, and selling out every time.
Each pop-up took a full week to prepare, baking in a tiny space in his flat in Byker while also working at Sainsbury’s. In his dry Glaswegian tone, he says: “The irony was, I wasn’t allowed to work in the bakery at Sainsbury’s because I wasn’t trained.”
The decision to make Northern Rye a full-time enterprise came when he arrived at work a couple of minutes late the morning after a pop-up to a junior manager tapping his watch. “It was the last straw,” he laughs. It proved the push he needed to sign for a small industrial unit in Byker – where the infamous ‘I got baked in Byker’ slogan was born.
The business continued to grow, with a steady queue of customers every weekend. Robbie then made the decision to run a Crowdfunder to open a shop in Ouseburn. A well-marketed campaign, it proved to be a huge success, aiming for £10,000 and raising £13,000 in just two days. Work on the new premises was well underway when the Covid pandemic hit.
“I had to refund half the crowdfunded money because all the people who had bought bread-making courses couldn’t do them due to Covid, and I didn’t know when things might go back to normal,” he adds.
After those long months of lockdowns, the café in Ouseburn eventually opened and it now has an established presence in the area. The bakehouse has also moved to a much larger premises on the Tyne Tunnel Trading Estate – with nine bakers and a total of 25 staff across the three locations.
Robbie talks candidly about the stresses of running a business, even a successful one. “Before Northern Rye I’d never been a manager, I’d only ever been a colleague, so I’ve had to learn to navigate how to be a boss; balancing people’s needs with the needs of the business. I continuously worry about everything,” he says half-jokingly. “The last couple of months, I’ve been getting up at 3am again because I’m training people. I don’t go to bed early either as there’s so much still to do and I have a family at home.”
Robbie and Alex’s daughter, Ivy, is nearly three. Asked if running the business impacts on family life, Robbie says: “100%. Me and Alex used to run marathons and travel, now we’re both in here all the time. My daughter’s routine revolves around this too, but I do get to pick her up from nursery and spend different times of the day with her.”
Reflecting on what keeps him going, he adds: “I still genuinely love the process of baking bread. I like the creative side of it too, helping to build the website, merchandising, marketing, taking nice photographs of the products. We’ve also got a really nice bunch of people working here,” as you’ll experience if you visit the bakehouse – an upbeat, fast-paced and productive place.
Robbie is modest about the level of success the business has achieved, and the reputation it has earned. Open a thread on Reddit asking for bakery recommendations in Newcastle and you’ll find comments such as “Northern Rye – nothing even comes close!” and “Northern Rye is one of the best in the country never mind the Toon”.
The team recently catered for a high-profile celebrity wedding and were asked to supply the backstage rider for Beyoncé and her entourage at the Stadium of Light in 2023. “We got this mysterious phone call from an agent saying they needed a huge number of pastries on a Sunday, when we don’t usually open,” says Robbie. “We realised it was for Beyoncé and that really gave the staff a kick, we weren’t allowed to say anything about it until she’d gone.”
Robbie says he never really takes a moment to reflect or sit back and be proud of what he’s achieving. “I’m just always driving forward. At the moment, it’s getting Harbour House sorted.”
Alex was the one who could see the vision for the third location. “Skye and Amy, who run Harbour House, went to one of our Crosby Loves Cheese pop-ups and asked if we’d be interested in the space,” she says. “They showed us the concept and the designs, and explained how much the council are putting into the area.” Alongside Northern Rye there’s a yoga studio, a concept jewellery store, a florist and a restaurant planned – and Robbie and Alex are excited to see all the businesses up and running. “I think this will be our last location, I’m happy with having the three,” adds Robbie. We’re certain the people of North Shields will be glad he picked this one.
Northern Rye is now open Monday-Saturday in Harbour House, 112 Little Bedford Street North Shields, NE29 6NW.
Quickfire questions
Where’s your favourite place to eat locally?
“Kith & Kin, if we eat out it’s usually brunch.”
And your favourite place for coffee?
“Regular Jo’s or Gareth James in Tynemouth – they both make great coffee.”
What about your favourite tipple?
“Just black coffee – I haven’t had any alcohol since Christmas and it feels good.”
Outside of the North East, where is your favourite bakery?
“Haxby Baker in York.”
What’s your favourite thing you make at Northern Rye?
“Baguettes – they’re hard to get right.”
Would you ever have a sneaky Greggs?
“Yeah, why not!”
If you could go back in time, would you do it all again?
“Probably not, it’s too stressful!”
