Back in business: £27m bakery rises from ashes seven years after devastating fire
Simon Thorpe CEO, Jac Griffiths (Site Manager) and Cllr Nigel Williams. Image: Mandy Jones
Nation Cymru staff
A company’s new £27 million bakery is up and running seven years after fire destroyed its flagship site in Wrexham.
The state-of-the-art bakery, described as the most modern in Europe, is once again producing bread at the Jones Village Bakery site where the devastating 2019 blaze left a pile of rubble and mangled metal.
Starting baking there again has marked an “emotional milestone” for the company.
Against all the odds the company has gone from strength to strength since the fire, tripling turnover and increasing the number of staff from 500 to more than 1,200.
The investment has also created 75 jobs across the business, including 30 at the new bakery.
Among the first visitors to the site on Wrexham Industrial Estate was Cllr Nigel Williams, Wrexham County Borough Council’s Lead member for Economy, Business and Tourism.
He said: “The phoenix rising from the ashes is a bit of a cliché but that’s what it is.”
“From where they were in 2019, they have more than doubled the number of staff and trebled their turnover. Lesser companies would have folded.”
“They pledged at the time that there would be no redundancies and that loyalty has been repaid. It is quite inspiring to hear what they have achieved.”
“There is still a family feel to the company even though there are 1,200 working here now.”
“The technology in the new bakery they have has blown my mind. It’s a masterpiece of engineering and design. This must be the most modern bakery in Europe.”
“The company is hugely important to the economy of Wrexham because it’s not just about the people who work here, it’s also about their supply chain and the contractors they use.”
“Long may they continue with their success because the Village Bakery is one of our major employers.”
“What’s really impressive is that they’re not standing still. They want to keep improving the quality of the products and keep on growing.”
“They’ve invested a phenomenal amount of money which shows the commitment of the company and the faith in the workers here.”
Site Manager Jac Griffiths, Cllr Nigel Williams and CEO Simon Thorpe with baked sourdough loaves. Image: Mandy Jones
Bakery manager Jac Griffiths, who joined the company as a 16-year-old summer worker, said he was “incredibly proud” to see the site transformed from the devastation left by the fire.
He said the new machinery was “the best in the business” and that it was a “special, special time” for the company.
“The state of the art machinery we have here is next generation,” he said.
“We’ve also future-proofed the line for innovation, giving us the opportunity to develop new products and enter new markets.”
“We started doing test runs in July and we are now able to make products for sale. We’ve made fantastic progress so far.”
“We take great pride in making the best possible products with kit that’s been designed to maintain quality and consistency, which also requires a high degree of skill from our team. We have got some great people who have shone during this journey.”
“They are now passing their knowledge on to the next generation of people joining the business.
“It’s a great passion of mine because I joined the business as a 16 year old, initially as a summer job before the bakery bug bit me.”
“At the Village Bakery you get the opportunity to show your skills and are rewarded if you knuckle down and work hard. It’s a great place to work.”
CEO Simon Thorpe said: “Jac is Village Bakery through and through, he really represents what we’re all about and is now bringing on the next generation.
“He’s passing the baton on, training young people and giving them the opportunity to have great careers here in the baking industry.”
“It’s something we’ve always done well because the vast majority of our bakery managers and supervisors started out as apprentices.”
“The technology is important but this is fundamentally about people and we are taking more staff on and turning them into Village people, the best bakers that we can.”
“It’s key moment for us all to be baking here again on the site we lost in 2019.
“This is an important staging post for the company as well as being a genuinely emotional milestone.”
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