Since opening his bakery in Battersea three years ago Yann Lamour, 46, refuses to let business go stale. Recently, he has found quirky ways to keep customers happy – by recreating recipes from the Great British Bake Off in his South London store.

For the last five weeks, Mr Lamour has been copying the recipes from the nation’s favourite cooking competition - opening the door to new flavours and customers.

A short walk from Wandsworth Common Westside, the small French bakery attracts mostly regular customers, but since starting the GBBO challenge Mr Lamour has noticed plenty of new faces.

Last weekend, inspired by the Channel 4 show’s bread week, the bakery's Irish soda bread “flew off the shelves”.

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And for this week’s Japanese theme, the baker is practicing his steamed buns recipe.

“The English can be quite conservative in their tastes – they like carrot cake, banana bread, brownies, but I want them to discover new flavours and ideas,” said Mr Lamour.

For his latest experiment, the 46-year-old is ordering large quantities of mincemeat and butter, “it’s the taste of Christmas in a croissant – French and British together in one pastry!”

A business school graduate, Mr Lamour says the GBBO challenge has proved popular on social media, attracting non-locals who are dedicated fans of the show.

While the pandemic has been a blow to many businesses, Lamour Bakery is a rare success story. During lockdown, the shop sold flour, eggs, fruit and veg when nearby supermarkets were stripped of supplies. And with more people working from home the demand for morning loaves of bread, or mid-afternoon treats, is far higher.

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Originally from the suburbs of Paris, Mr Lamour moved to London 17 years ago. He says the bakery’s location in SW18 is the best of both worlds – "it’s near the city centre while having a friendly, suburban feel".

Though he formerly worked in HR, Mr Lamour found the job exceedingly stressful and took up baking to relax.

“The whole week everyone hates you and then you bring a cake to the office and everyone loves you. I wanted to do what makes people smile.” It’s no wonder therefore why he named his bakery ‘Lamour’ - French for ‘love’ - and also his surname.

In a non-pandemic future, Mr Lamour hopes to spread the warmth by opening the cafe into a social space, with a knitting and book club.

“In France, the bakery is heart of town. It’s where you get all the gossip – who’s getting married, who’s had a baby - so for me it’s important to get that going.”