Baker happy to live the quiet life after 30 years in the business (From Gazette)

ONE of Colchester’s last independent bakers has hung up his Oven-mitt?

1968 to 2012 in my calculation is 44 years and not 30 years as the headline suggests?

Good luck in your retirement Roger. Lets hope the new owner keeps many of our favourite traditional British products that Kathleen's Kitchen has been renowned for.

Say It As It Is OK? wrote:
1968 to 2012 in my calculation is 44 years and not 30 years as the headline suggests?

Good luck in your retirement Roger. Lets hope the new owner keeps many of our favourite traditional British products that Kathleen's Kitchen has been renowned for.

'1968 to 2012 in my calculation is 44 years and not 30 years as the headline suggests?'

I'd like to strongly disagree with you on this point, because by the Gazette's calculation I'm 29.

The question I'd really to ask is who is Olivier Duport? I've tried googling, but alas I don't speak French. Does the name represent a true independent who be overseeing Kathleen's Kitchen direct, or a chain? The answer to that will determine whether we continue to get quality produce, or the sort of rubbish sold by Greggs and Tesco.

Looks like an independent as Companies House shows a Dedham address as the registered office of Duport Bakery Ltd.

only time will tell.

6079 Smith W wrote:

Say It As It Is OK? wrote:
1968 to 2012 in my calculation is 44 years and not 30 years as the headline suggests?

Good luck in your retirement Roger. Lets hope the new owner keeps many of our favourite traditional British products that Kathleen's Kitchen has been renowned for.

'1968 to 2012 in my calculation is 44 years and not 30 years as the headline suggests?'

I'd like to strongly disagree with you on this point, because by the Gazette's calculation I'm 29.

The question I'd really to ask is who is Olivier Duport? I've tried googling, but alas I don't speak French. Does the name represent a true independent who be overseeing Kathleen's Kitchen direct, or a chain? The answer to that will determine whether we continue to get quality produce, or the sort of rubbish sold by Greggs and Tesco.

I think it means he been a baker since 1968 and running Kathleens Kitchen for 30 year. But this is the gazette so who knows

I wish Roger a healthy and happy retirement.His success at Kathleens
Kitchen is remarkable because he proved - as Crouch Street traders
have proved - that if your products and
service are good enough you can survive and thrive even with a supermarket on your doorstep.In fact,Roger worked
in the shadow of Sainsbury's (just around the corner)and Marks and Spencer (a few hundred yards away)for thirty one years and in recent months he has also had to contend with a rival Greggs store just two doors away.I never heard him complain about the competition.He simply got on and did his work and he did it exceptionally well.He deserved all the awards he and his business received.
PS:But I have never understood why
there is no apostrophe in Kathleens Kitchen or Jacks.Was that the signwriter's or signwriters' fault?.

RB, Lexden wrote:
I wish Roger a healthy and happy retirement.His success at Kathleens
Kitchen is remarkable because he proved - as Crouch Street traders
have proved - that if your products and
service are good enough you can survive and thrive even with a supermarket on your doorstep.In fact,Roger worked
in the shadow of Sainsbury's (just around the corner)and Marks and Spencer (a few hundred yards away)for thirty one years and in recent months he has also had to contend with a rival Greggs store just two doors away.I never heard him complain about the competition.He simply got on and did his work and he did it exceptionally well.He deserved all the awards he and his business received.
PS:But I have never understood why
there is no apostrophe in Kathleens Kitchen or Jacks.Was that the signwriter's or signwriters' fault?.

Could be because KK is not run by Kathleen, and Jacks is not run by Jack, and Greggs is not run by Gregg.
.
Anyway, as you and others have said, the important thing is the consistent quality of the products sold.
.
Best wishes to Mr Hance, and may Kathleens Kitchen continue to see off the competition from mediocre shops such as Greggs.
.
No doubt Monsieur Duport will be offering new products, but if he does away with Kathleen's traditional loaves, people can get similar quality from Gunton's (run by a Mr Gunton) in Crouch Street.

TheCaptain wrote:

6079 Smith W wrote:

Say It As It Is OK? wrote:
1968 to 2012 in my calculation is 44 years and not 30 years as the headline suggests?

Good luck in your retirement Roger. Lets hope the new owner keeps many of our favourite traditional British products that Kathleen's Kitchen has been renowned for.

'1968 to 2012 in my calculation is 44 years and not 30 years as the headline suggests?'

I'd like to strongly disagree with you on this point, because by the Gazette's calculation I'm 29.

The question I'd really to ask is who is Olivier Duport? I've tried googling, but alas I don't speak French. Does the name represent a true independent who be overseeing Kathleen's Kitchen direct, or a chain? The answer to that will determine whether we continue to get quality produce, or the sort of rubbish sold by Greggs and Tesco.

I think it means he been a baker since 1968 and running Kathleens Kitchen for 30 year. But this is the gazette so who knows

The Gazette writers are indeed human, and occasionally they may get thinmgs wrong, but, as you say, the arithmetic here is clearly correct for anyone who reads the story carefully.

congrats and well done

Boris,I love your amusing guesswork
about the missing apostrophes.But I'm afraid you have got it wrong again.
Although the Crouch Street store is
popularly known as Gunton's.the main sign above the door is: 'H.Gunton.'
You could have checked this by looking in the Colchester telephone directory.To be fair there is also another sign at the front - missing an apostrophe - which says : 'Guntons fine foods.'
If Jacks is named after its founder,there should be an apostrophe between the 'k' and the 's.' If the shop had been founded by Terry Jacks - who had a number one hit record in 1974 with Seasons In The Sun - the present sign would be correct.
Was Kathleens(sic)Kitche
n named after a real-life Kathleen?.I do not know.But if ever there was a Kathleen and if the shop was named after her,there should be an apostrophe between between the 'n' and 's.'

But how do you explain the missing apostrophe in the Sir Isaacs(sic)Walk street sign?.Is it because the late Sir
Isaac Rebow is no longer running a business,if he ever ran one?.

And how do you know about the quality of bread at Kathleens Kitchen?.
Do you shop there?.I thought that you
shopped at the Co-Op "as a matter of
principle."

Sorry that you weren't able to join
Bobby and Andy at the match last
Saturday.It would have been lovely to
have had a picture of the three of you
together: a famous inside right with
a couple of old left wingers.

we should start a pedants corner.

wellnow wrote:
we should start a pedants corner.

Good idea, pedantry is fun.

RB, Lexden wrote:
Boris,I love your amusing guesswork
about the missing apostrophes.But I'm afraid you have got it wrong again.
Although the Crouch Street store is
popularly known as Gunton's.the main sign above the door is: 'H.Gunton.'
You could have checked this by looking in the Colchester telephone directory.To be fair there is also another sign at the front - missing an apostrophe - which says : 'Guntons fine foods.'
If Jacks is named after its founder,there should be an apostrophe between the 'k' and the 's.' If the shop had been founded by Terry Jacks - who had a number one hit record in 1974 with Seasons In The Sun - the present sign would be correct.
Was Kathleens(sic)Kitche

n named after a real-life Kathleen?.I do not know.But if ever there was a Kathleen and if the shop was named after her,there should be an apostrophe between between the 'n' and 's.'

But how do you explain the missing apostrophe in the Sir Isaacs(sic)Walk street sign?.Is it because the late Sir
Isaac Rebow is no longer running a business,if he ever ran one?.

And how do you know about the quality of bread at Kathleens Kitchen?.
Do you shop there?.I thought that you
shopped at the Co-Op "as a matter of
principle."

Sorry that you weren't able to join
Bobby and Andy at the match last
Saturday.It would have been lovely to
have had a picture of the three of you
together: a famous inside right with
a couple of old left wingers.

I know that Gunton's was founded by H. Gunton, and I believe that it has always been run by a Gunton. I know that Frank Wright is no longer run by a Wright.
The present Jacks has "Founded in 1946" on the shop front, but that was a different type of shop. The present owner took over in 1960 and started selling general hardware, using the old name, which was not his.
Roger Hance will undoubtedly know who Kathleen is, or isn't. But the reporter let him retire without getting the answer to that question.
Sir Isaac Rebow (1655-1726) was a textile magnate and was for many years one of Colchester's two MPs. He also did a year as Mayor of Colchester. Clearly the defective street sign is the result of gross ignorance at CBC.
To shop at the Co-op I have to drive oir take a bus. So for things like bread or fresh fruit I walk into town. In the last few days I have bought bread at Kathleens Kitchen, Gunton's, and the Co-op.
Yes, it was a pity I couldn't go to that match, but I'm sure the sort of photo-opportunity that you mention will come again. The three of us were often to be seen together near Kathleen's Kitchen last winter collecting signatures on the Defend Sheltered Housing petition.
And finally, thanks, RB, for all your contributions about football, including the current one about the FA Cup draw against Chelmsford City. I always look forward to your matchless recitations of statistics.