Ori Hellerstein grew up helping out in his mother's bread shop in Jerusalem.

Now he runs The Artisan Baker in Stroud and Cheltenham, a near million-pound turnover business, supplying bread and pastries to a wide range of clients.

The B!G Interviews are sponsored by Cheltenham-based IT solutions company Infrastar.

After completing military service, Ori moved to London aged 23 and spent several years working as a pastry chef.

He then decided to settle in the Cotswolds with his young family and set up a bakery school and started his first food business, selling breads and confectionery locally.

Ori is known as The Artisan Baker in his hometown of Stroud - a name taken from the title of his book, where he shares the secrets behind his mouth-watering recipes inspired by his culinary travels across the world.

In September 2020, Ori opened his first store at the Five Valleys indoor market in Stroud where you can witness Ori and his team baking a huge range of fresh produce on site each morning in the open-plan kitchen.

In October 2022, Ori opened his second store in Imperial Gardens, Cheltenham.

He now employs over 25 staff in total but he says margins are tight with rising costs.

His team of skilled bakers start work at 3am on the early shift and staff bake until 10pm.

"it's nearly a 24-hour operation," says Ori. "It's hard, physical work. It's a very difficult time for the industry."

"We have a range of about eight to 10 different breads from the white and wholemeal to sour doughs and more speciality breads, and 10 different types of pastries."

The Artisan Baker recently appeared on the Channel 4 show 'A Cotswold Farm Shop', a light-hearted love letter to the Cotswolds and Gloucester Services

Ori said appearing on the show gave The Artisan Baker a 'massive boost' and had increased sales.

Watch Ori's story of how he realised his dream of running his own bakery business in the Cotswolds.

Punchline's The B!G Interviews are sponsored by Cheltenham-based IT solutions company Infrastar.

Working with SMEs, public and private sector organisations and government bodies across the UK, Infrastar's IT experts are committed to helping you overcome problems and maximise productivity through exceptional IT solutions.

Over the years the company has built a dedicated team of IT specialists. Infrastar is also a key sponsor of the No Child Left Behind awards.

For more information on Infrastar, call 01242 303720, email info@infrastar.co.uk  or visit infrastar.co.uk