Barkers the Bakers: New bakery opening in Norton Lees, as Sheffield sandwich shop owner retires after 39 years

Roger Higgins had been a fixture on Derbyshire Lane, in Norton Lees, since opening R & R Quality Fresh Foods in the 1980s, but he recently closed the store to enjoy his well-earned retirement.

A new era is now beginning, as Barkers the Bakers, which already has shops in Lowedges and Greenhill, prepares to open its third branch there on Monday, October 10.

Like the existing branches, it will sell the usual range of breads, pastries and cakes, alongside homemade pies, the family business’ famous roast ham sandwiches, and seasonal specials, from spooky treats for Halloween to the parkin which is a big hit around Bonfire Night.

Darren Barker said he was excited to open the latest bakery, despite soaring costs making it harder than ever for independent stores to compete with the big supermarkets.

“It’s frightening when you look at what things cost. It’s not just energy prices, the cost of our raw ingredients has gone through the roof too,” he said.

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“The supermarkets have us on price and convenience but I think we offer something a little different to what they do, which has worked for us so far.

“We’re constantly trying to evolve our products and offer our customers something new, like the cake jars we made recently and the half-pound cookies which were very popular.

“When supermarkets make cookies, they tend to use pre-made dough they’ve bought in, but we make everything from scratch. We’re still busy at our existing stores and hopefully people will get behind us at the new place on Derbyshire Lane.”

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Darren told how his dad Keith first opened the shop in Lowedges as a butchers shop in 1984 and when Darren left school in the early 90s he didn’t know what he wanted to do so his father suggested he try making bread to sell in the shop.

He discovered he had a talent, which he honed at college and then at some London patisseries before returning to the shop, where the baked goods proved so popular the family ended up closing the butchery section and turning it into a dedicated bakery and sandwich shop.

Darren said Barkers already supplied Roger’s sandwich shop and he had told him that he wanted to take over there when Roger retired.

The original plan was to spend ‘a few pounds’ getting the premises ready to reopen as a bakery, said Darren, but in the end they opted to strip it back to the bare walls and give it a complete makeover.

Barkers is a true family business, with Darren’s mum and dad Keith and Beryl still involved, as are Darren’s wife Stacey, his sister Tracy Kirkham and her husband Anthony.

Although it is a traditional bakery in many ways, it is not afraid to move with the times.

It even has its own TikTok account, where a video of its ‘old school’ cheese flans being made recently racked up more than 60,000 views.