THE Bread Lady rose to the challenge and was awarded five stars in the council's Scores On The Doors food hygiene rating system.
Julie Thomas, 44, of Wirral Avenue, Grimsby, only opened her bread stall on Grimsby's top town market on November 20 – and she was awarded five stars following an inspection the very next day.
"This was exactly what I was aiming for but I never expected to get five out of five stars," Mrs Thomas said.
North East Lincolnshire Council's Scores On The Doors scheme inspects food outlets on a variety of criteria, including cleanliness, safe food practices and store layout – then awards a score out of five.
As reported, Mrs Thomas, who runs the stall with her husband Gary, 47, previously ran the Fairways Care Home kitchen and was awarded five stars in the same scheme back in September.
She said: "I was hired at the care home to get the kitchen up to a five-star rating and we achieved that in a very short time.
"I am very pleased, it's a great start to my business to be awarded this the day after opening."
Mrs Thomas is no stranger to the challenges of running a small business.
From 2007 to 2010 she ran her own café – Cockerels Kitchen – in the top town market.
Four weeks ago she was approached to open a stall and made the decision to start up a bakery.
Although the inspectors can turn up again at any time and will be back for the annual inspection next November, Mrs Thomas isn't worried.
"Once you have a good practice in place and get into a routine, it's easy to keep on top of everything and maintain high standards of cleanliness," she said.
With Christmas just around the corner, Mrs Thomas is gearing up with speciality items including both cranberry and walnut breads.
"After Christmas, we have a brief window of calm before getting ready for Valentine's Day," she added. Regular customers to the market are glad to see the couple return – and they already feel as though they're on a roll.
"Customers seem to be very happy with our return."
"Our products and store layout have received only praise and that means a lot to us."
"We bake all our products fresh on the site. Both customers and the council are very confident in my ability to run a bakery and keep it up to standards."
