FORMER university lecturer Nick May has turned his hobby of baking bread into a full-time business — and now people can't get enough of the tasty results.

Bread of Devon, based in an industrial unit in Stoke Canon, is a family venture Nick runs with his wife, Heather, and sons, Toby, 32, and Will, 30.

It was six years ago that Nick, 60, established Bread of Devon and during that time the bakery has gone from strength to strength. The company has won the Devon Life food award for best baker two years running.

"I used to buy the most wonderful granary bread from Seasons, a wholefood shop in Exeter," he said. "When they were no longer able to get it, someone suggested I make my own, which I used to do for fun. I took their advice and then started selling it to Seasons and it's just mushroomed from there."

Nick and his sons pride themselves on making bread the old-fashioned way.

"We make traditional bread the way they used to years ago," he said. "We keep it free from additives and chemicals, and the salt and sugar levels are low. We are not chemists we are bakers. Bread never needed all these added extras before, so why should we use them now?"

Bread of Devon offers 28 different varieties including white, granary, brown, wholemeal, wheat-free, rye, apricot and almond, apple and cranberry, cheese and spring onion, olive, saffron and honey, rocket and sunflower seed and wild garlic.

The team is always open to new suggestions for breads.

"One customer told us about how she used to have oat bread as a child," said Nick. "We made some and now it is one of our biggest sellers."

Maintaining a good relationship with customers is important to Nick. He said: "It's wonderful to meet customers at farmers' markets and it's vital that we talk to them and get feedback.

"For example, our customers often tell us that our bread seems to keep better. The secret with bread is that the longer it takes to make, the better it keeps. We allow all our dough to rise twice before shaping and baking.

"We also make up special request orders for customers. For example, we have one chap who likes a loaf of bread that is completely salt free and another who likes his bread to be dairy free, so we use rice milk instead of cow's milk."

Bread of Devon visits a number of local farmers' markets, including Crediton, Cullompton, Exeter, Exmouth, Newton Abbot, Tavistock, Torquay, Ottery St Mary, Plymouth and the Slow Food Market at Exeter Quay.

The bread is also available at various independent food shops, including Seasons and Pack Horse Stores, both in Exeter, Exe Valley Farm Shop in Thorverton and Quickes Farm Shop in Newton St Cyres.

"Baking batches of bread requires a fair amount of strength," said Nick. "So my sons are doing that now while I'm concentrating on marketing."

Details: 07957 630297 or visit www.breadofdevon.co.uk.