A Cotswold company has announced a new scheme to encourage more people to turn their passion for home baking into a successful career.

Matthews Cotswold Flour, based in Chipping Norton, will encourage its huge community of home bakers to apply to be part of the new Baker in Training Development Scheme.

Each year, four applicants will be chosen to take up a place. They will be given the chance to have a week's work experience with a bakery and an introduction to professional baking. They will also be given a selection of bakery equipment and materials to help them continue to develop their baking skills.

Sophie Carey, bakery development manager at Matthews Cotswold Flour, said: "I regularly hear feedback from bakeries that they are desperately short of good bakery staff. This is a problem across the industry that affects everyone, from small businesses right up to the industry giants.

"We are keen to help in any way that we can to resolve this ongoing challenge for our trade customers and, as part of that commitment, we are delighted to launch our new Baker in Training Development Scheme."

Sophie continued: "We hold a unique position in the industry, with strong networks in both the bakery trade and home baking community. We want to put this to good use and provide this golden opportunity for a group of individuals to learn more about the bakery industry and see if they would like to turn their passion into a professional career. We aim to inspire and support the next generation of professional bakers. We would love to hear from any bakeries keen to provide work experience for the scheme."

The 200-year-old family business, Matthews Cotswold Flour, has a range of over 100 varieties of flour.

The company is committed to supporting regenerative food sources and inspiring, educating and partnering with the nation's artisan and home bakers.