Meet the team
Chef James
CJ
James is really proud to be the original Chef James from CJ’s. He loves being part of the team and chatting with his fellow chefs.
He started baking when he was 15, and his favourite cake has always been coffee and walnut. When he’s not baking, James has lots of other interests: football (like his dad he’s a Manchester City fan, and he also plays for QPR Tiger Cubs), rugby (playing for and supporting Saracens), gardening, and history, where his specialist subject is Henry VIII and his six wives.
James’s other passion is Strictly Come Dancing, which he watches religiously whenever it’s on – and still gets excited when he remembers any of the couples’ jive.
Hema
CJ's Bakery Chef
Hema is another sporty CJ’s baker. She plays football for the QPR Tiger Cubs and she dances at Saracens disAbility. She also loves to sing.
Her favourite bake is the deliciously gooey CJ’s carrot cake. She says her favourite thing about working with CJ’s is being with the wonderful volunteers, especially Jojo!
Her favourite day of the year is her birthday, which always involves lots of chocolate.
Hema is an accomplished baker; she has oodles of patience and is especially good at gently folding cake batter. She is also brilliant at washing up.
Marc
CJ's Bakery Chef
Marc is a keen rugby player and enjoys putting on the famous black kit and playing for Saracens RFC disAbility team.
His favourite things to bake at CJ’s are the coffee and walnut cake and cookie dough. He says that if he could bake a cake for anyone, he would choose celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay.
Marc has a great eye for detail and his weighing skills are always exact.
Alex
CJ's Bakery Chef
Alex is a keen sportsman – he plays football for QPR alongside James.
He is also a performer and has studied at the ChickenShed theatre company where he sang Bob Dylan’s Blowin' in the Wind and acted in a show about the Berlin Wall.
Alex loves learning new things at CJ’s and enjoys being part of a great team.
Katie
CJ's Bakery Chef
Katie is studying at a local vocational college and loves to practise her baking at CJ’s when she has time.
The skills she’s most proud of are rolling cookie dough and dipping cookies in chocolate.
She is a great asset to the CJ’s kitchen, always sharing her smiles and positivity with all the team.
Oliver
CJ's Bakery Chef
Oliver is a very keen chef and baker and cooks a lot at home when he’s not in the CJ’s kitchen.
Oliver is studying full-time at college so only gets to bake with us during his spare time.
He is another keen rugby player, turning out alongside James, Sam and Marc in the Saracens disAbility team.
Sam
CJ's Bakery Chef
Sam loves rugby and plays with both Saracens disAbility and Cobham Chargers mixed ability teams. Having been inspired by meeting a deaf sports coach, Sam's ambition is to work as an assisant sports coach.
Like James he supports the Welsh rugby team and his hero is Sam Warburton. Sam really enjoys working at CJ's and is learning important new skills.
Gila
CJ's Bakery Chef
Gila is a huge Manchester City fan, just like James and Richard. She is also a very enthusiastic baker who enjoys all aspects of working at CJ's.
When she isn't baking, Gila looks after children at a local kindergarten and she also enjoys attending courses to learn new skills.
Gabriel
CJ's Bakery Chef
Gabriel is also a member of the Saracens disAbility rugby team and plays with them every Monday.
He has a host of interests including singing, dancing, music and art. He loves animals, especially his cat Charlie.
At CJ's, Gabriel excels at weighing ingredients and loves learning lots of new skills and socialising with the other chefs.
Annie
CJ's Bakery Chef
Annie studies performing arts at a local theatre college and is a ray of sunshine in the kitchen.
She enjoys working with the other chefs and is a good team player. She is a quick worker and can produce multiple cakes in a baking session.
Jenny
CJ's Bakery Chef
Jenny's specialism is anything IT related and she is a great help to Sian with instragram and facebook. Jenny loves animals and has dogs and cats at home.
Jenny is full of ideas for new recipes for CJ's - we just have to find the time to test them all out!
Aimee
CJ's Bakery Chef
Aimee studied cooking and baking at Fox's Academy in Somerset so she brings a lot of ideas and knowledge to CJ's. Marmalade and quiche are two of her favourite things to bake.
Aimee likes to speak French and is excellent at Makaton signing - she is teaching us all!
Sian Chadwick
Head of the kitchen
Sian is one of the directors at CJ’s and is also James’s mum.
She spent most of her life in finance and HR, until 2020 when she left a job she loved with a boutique travel company to set up CJ’s.
She now works full time in the bakery, where she has become the team's resident sourdough obsessive. When she’s not fine-tuning the recipes for CJ’s famous sourdough loaves, you’ll find her training and helping out the other chefs.
Richard Chadwick
Chief taster and fundraiser
Richard is James’s dad, as well as being one of CJ’s directors and fund-raisers.
He’s not as keen on baking as the rest of the team but is usually around to taste-test the goods! Richard has most recently worked in finance and operations at The Princes Trust and United World Schools.
If he can drag himself away from the testing CJ’s delicious bread, cakes and brownies, his dream is to become a footballer, rugby player or an archaeologist.
Debbie Marshall
Director and kitchen assistant
Debbie is a director at CJ’s who worked with Sian in a travel business for over 10 years where they became friends.
She is chair of a charity, a non-executive director of a business, and also runs a small marketing consultancy.
She loves helping in the kitchen and suggesting new ideas for the bakery. She loves CJ's bread!