A brand new independent bakery and café is coming to Warwick.

Wildflower is the project of Abby Hanlon, a former Bank of England employee with a passion for baking. 

Located at 44 Brook Street, Wildflower will replace the space previously occupied by Two Brothers Bakery, however, the Two Brothers café on Market Place will remain open.

As a keen baker at home and even baking the cake for her wedding, this will be Abby's first bakery and café business venture.

"I was at the Bank of England before, so this is something completely different," Abby explained. 

"This is just something that I've always wanted to do.

"I bake a lot at home.

"I've never been a professional baker, but I am always the sort of the one who bakes the cakes for various family parties and events." 

"I'm just a passionate baker rather than a professional one at the moment, but maybe I am a professional baker now," she added. 

Abby recalled, during her maternity leave, having her baby in October, she found herself in Two Brothers Bakery overhearing a conversation between the owners about their lease ending. 

She explained: "I just thought, do you know what, perhaps this is a sign. It's something I've always wanted to do and something I've been thinking about more recently.

"So, I discussed it with them and then just decided to take on the lease from 1 July." 

Located on 44 Brook Street, Wildflower will replace the space of the Two Brothers Bakery (image via Nadia Sayed)

With the store, which is currently being renovated, set to open in early September, Abby shared her vision for Wildflower including some of the menu items. 

"'I'm going to make a couple of different kinds of sourdoughs, focaccias and chibattas. 

"Everybody who pops in while I'm renovating the place seems to be excited for the bread to come back to Warwick, so we're definitely going to be doing that because everyone's very excited about the fresh bread."

Fresh pastries, croissants, cinnamon buns and cakes are all also on the menu. 

Also coming to the Wildflower are Abby's famous brownies, popular amongst her friends and family.

Other items include millionaire shortbread, big cakes like coffee and walnut and carrot cake. 

Savoury options will also be available like soups and sandwiches, with more menu items to come feature down the line, as the store expands. 

"We're going to start with keeping it simple and then see where it goes," Abby said. 

A unique aspect to Abby's new baking venture is the community ethos she hopes to bring to the space, 

Beginning around Christmas time, Abby plans to launch a series of workshops and classes, for both adults and children, like baking Christmas cakes and cake decorating classes.

Combining her passion for baking and working with children - something she does in her spare time through the Friendship Project Charity, Abby also intends on hosting several kid's classes.

"I love baking and I love working with children, so if I can combine them two, I'm in for the purposeful career that everyone dreams of.

"I want parents to be able to come in and decorate cupcakes with their kids and things like that, just sort of fun classes. 

"We might also do a wreathmaking workshop, because one of my friends is very into gardening and said they'd be up for running a wreathmaking workshop."

"I do just really want it to be a real community space, to do different events," said Abby. 

Despite being a keen baker at home and even baking the cake for her wedding, this will be Abby's first bakery and café business venture (image via Nadia Sayed)

When asked what she thought about launching her first business in Warwick she highlighted the town's community was "definitely" a huge factor in her decision. 

"My biggest thing is, I can't really work in finance anymore. 

"Yeah there's money flowing around in finance, but I don't really feel like it's part of the community, I don't really feel like I'm doing much.

"So my biggest thing that I want out of the cafe is just to make it a really nice community space for everyone to enjoy and to really give back to the community."

Abby is open to any suggestions from locals about what they'd like to see at the new cafe, from book swaps to anything they feel is currently "missing from the community."

She added: "People can come in and talk to us because that's what we're there for and that's what we want to do."

Wildflower is set to open its doors on the first Saturday (6) of September this year.