Craft bakery group The Almond Thief has gone into creditors voluntary liquidation owing almost £100,000.

The bakery known for its sourdough bread and pastries had branches in Dartington, Totnes and Plymouth.

The Plymouth branch has rebranded to become a restaurant called Ope which is owned by Max Phillips and is completely separate from The Almond Thief Ltd.

The bakery was founded in 2014 by former biologist Dan Mifsud and the name was inspired by his Mediterranean grandfather who used to steal nuts in his youth.

The directors listed by companies house were Sophy Harrison-Allen, Daniel Mifsud and Zhivomir Vangelov.

The liquidators are Sam Bailey and Jonathan Trembath of Richard J Smith and Co in Ivybridge.

Apart from the sourdough bread the range, which was almost totally organic, included Portuguese Pasteis de Nata, pains au chocolat and spiced fruit buns with raisins.

The baking usually started at 6am in the morning, earlier on Saturday and they had their own mill.

At the end of each day they gave away their unsold bread to the local foodbank.

The owners had been trying to sell the business and received a number of messages of support on Instagram including:

‘I'm sad to hear this.

Every single thing we purchased was the most delicious thing ever.

Luckily we went back for seconds b4 we left.

The miso cookies were heaven thank you.’

‘Heartbroken.

The prospect of mornings without a morning bun is a tough one.

Thank you for all the delicious treats over the years and the very best of luck wherever you’re heading next.’

‘Thank you for all the amazing bread and pastries over the years.’

The Almond Thief was one of the winners of the prestigious La Liste 2024 Pastry Awards which recognised more than 3,000 pastry shops worldwide including almost 200 in the UK.