Docker Bakery is set to open a new site in Dover this autumn, becoming a tenant of Dover District Council’s newly built Bench building on Bench Street.
Located close to the town’s Market Square and St James Retail Park, Docker Dover will form part of The Bench, a new creative centre and education campus for East Kent College.
The Bench is due to open to the public in late August, coinciding with the start of the new academic year.
Docker Dover will offer the bakery’s full range of freshly baked sourdough breads, pastries and drinks, including Curve Roasters coffee, alongside a seasonal daytime food menu.
The café will be accessible from street level and will have approximately 48 covers, with a small number of additional outdoor seats.
Customers will be able to pick up a loaf of bread, stop by for a coffee and pastry, or order from a seasonal daytime menu available to eat in or take away.
Wes Burden, co-founder of Docker, said: “We are excited to soon be opening Docker in Dover, and to becoming part of the daily rhythm of this brilliant new building in the heart of the town, serving members of the local community, as well as those studying and working at The Bench.”
Docker Dover will open as the business celebrates its tenth birthday. Docker was founded in 2016 by Wesley Burden and Peter Nelson, opening from a small shipping container on the East Yard at Folkestone Harbour.
The bakery grew from a shared passion for fermentation, both in craft brewing and sourdough baking.
Docker Dover will join the brand’s existing sites in Folkestone at Park Farm, Canterbury at The Goods Shed, and Ashford, which opened in autumn 2025.
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