The Local Link: The Old Fire Station, The Old Bakery & Webster's Events

If you walk through Brackley’s high street today, it’s hard not to notice a shift. Buildings that sat empty for years are open again, lights are on, and independent businesses are bringing life back into spaces that once felt forgotten. More and more local business owners are taking on these historic buildings, modernising them whilst respecting their character. At the heart of that change is Danny Webster.

Owner of The Old Fire Station Café, The Old Bakery, and founder of Webster’s Events, Danny didn’t set out to transform the high street. His journey began with food, hard work, and a willingness to take opportunities when they appeared. Over time, those choices naturally became part of Brackley’s wider revival.

Before cafés and bakeries, Danny spent thirteen-and-a-half years in the RAF as a chef. The military gave him discipline, experience, and opportunities he’ll always value, but as his career progressed, the role moved further away from what he loved most.

“It stopped being about food and started being about paperwork. I just wanted to be in the kitchen!”

Alongside his RAF career, Danny established Webster’s Events, catering weddings, private dinners, and parties at weekends. When bookings became steady, he took the leap and left the military, just as COVID arrived.

When weddings disappeared overnight, Danny adapted. Instead of large events, he launched home-delivered dinners, offering themed meals to hundreds of local homes.

“Instead of cooking for 100 people at a wedding, I was delivering dinner to 200 houses.”

What could have been a setback became a turning point. The business survived, the brand grew, and when events returned, bookings came back stronger than ever.

As demand increased, Danny quickly outgrew his kitchen space. He cooked from home and borrowed kitchens. Eventually, a conversation with Brackley Town Council changed everything.

The Old Fire Station became available and, within half an hour, Danny knew it was right.

Opening in 2022, The Old Fire Station started as a café, but quickly evolved into something more. Danny needed the kitchen for his events business, but because it was attached to a café, he made it a great one. Over time, it became one of Brackley’s most popular breakfast spots, known for high quality food and a welcoming atmosphere.

Crucially, Danny kept the building’s original name.

“It’s an old fire station, why rename it?”

That decision reflected a wider approach: keeping the history of Brackley’s buildings visible, whilst giving them a new purpose.

Whilst plans were underway to extend the Fire Station, Brackley’s much-loved bakery closed. It was another historic building at risk of sitting empty. Danny saw both an opportunity and a responsibility.

“I wanted to keep that building alive.”

The Old Bakery re-opened with a clear purpose. The Fire Station would focus on breakfast, brunch, and lunch, while the Bakery would become the place for coffee, cakes, and grab-and-go. What Danny didn’t anticipate was just how quickly the town would embrace it.

“I genuinely thought I might lose money opening it. Turns out, Brackley just needed a bakery.”

Queues soon became part of daily life, reinforcing a growing pattern across the town – when local people invest in local spaces, the community responds.

Today, Danny’s businesses sit alongside other independents who have taken on long-empty buildings and reimagined them for modern life. Together, they are helping reshape Brackley’s high street into something that feels active, personal, and rooted in the community rather than driven by chains.

For Danny, and for many local business owners like him, success isn’t just measured in sales or footfall. It’s in seeing people meet for coffee, families make traditions, and once-quiet buildings becoming places where the community naturally gathers again.