A North Wales bakery’s new £20 million production line is up and running.
After a 14-month installation, the giant piece of equipment at the Jones Village Bakery’s flagship headquarters complex on Wrexham Industrial Estate was completed two days ahead of schedule.
The new line has doubled the company’s roll-making capacity and is set to create 60 new jobs by next summer.
It’s part of a total investment package of £47 million which also includes plans to convert and extend a storage facility that was built on the nearby site of the company’s bakery that was destroyed by a devastating fire in 2019.
CEO Simon Thorpe said: “The new roll production line is a fantastic investment that will enable us to satisfy the growing appetite for our products.
“It’s the same old story. If you make fantastic products and provide excellent customer service, it will invariably create demand.
“I am very proud of the team who have worked like trojans to build this new production line two days in front of a tight schedule which was a full 14 months long. They have done an absolutely cracking job.
“The equipment is the very best, most modern that’s available on the market and has come from the Netherlands.
“We chose it because it makes the very best product and it’s been configured in a way that is bespoke to our particular needs.”
The project was masterminded by Group Head of Engineering Kris Green.
He said: “The new roll line has significantly increased our capacity, utilising the skills of craft bakers without them having to do any of the heavy manual tasks.
“It’s advanced, highly sophisticated equipment that mimics what you do in a craft bakery.
“That’s the key because our primary focus is always the quality of the product which drives demand. It speaks for itself in terms of the growth we have seen.
“The upshot is that it’s attracting more highly skilled people and we’re investing in that internally.
“As we move in to next summer, when the demand increases again we’ll be looking at a total of 60 jobs.”
Group Head of Operations Andy Beckett also played a key role in the success of the production line installation.
His rise through the ranks has been meteoric, starting from the floor up as a cleaner at a large bakery company in the North West where he was part of the management team.
After spells working at senior levels for a major glass manufacturer and a global brewery giant, he returned to his first love as a trained baker at the Village Bakery two years ago.
Completing the new production line ahead of schedule was, he said, his proudest career moment so far.
“Once you’re in bakery, it becomes a passion so I was thrilled to join the Village Bakery which continues to enjoy spectacular growth,” he said.
“It’s a fantastic place. There’s lots of investment and lots of opportunities for anybody who’s prepared to work hard.
“We’re really going places and I feel I am now part of something very special and the new production line enables us to serve the customer in different ways.
“With precision planning, we were able to get everything completed early and start making saleable products two days early.
“The whole team were absolutely fantastic – the people who work here are our secret ingredient who create the bakery magic.
“The people are what makes the business. Investing in them, training them and encouraging them is what I’m all about as a manager.”
Simon Thorpe added: “From the point of view of our customers, everybody is very excited about having the extra capability created by the new production line.”
“This is testament to what the Village Bakery has always been about – investing to grow with quality at the heart of everything we do.
“This is great news, not just for the Village Bakery but also for the wider Wrexham economy.
“Wrexham is going from strength to strength and we want to continue to support that. It’s been a wonderful journey so far and there’s still plenty more to come.”
