Wrexham bakery creates 50 new jobs amid record overseas sales growth

Record overseas sales are fuelling growth at a bakery where 50 new jobs are up for grabs after landing new contracts in the Middle East and Australia.

Exports are set to exceed £10 million barrier at the Jones Village Bakery in Wrexham, which has recently clinched two deals to supply gluten-free products to seven Gulf States in the Middle East.

Earlier this year the company started shipping products to Australia where the company’s pancakes have proved a big hit and are now being sold and served up right across the vast country.

At the same time the bakery is also experiencing surging demand from Europe, particularly in France, Germany, Belgium and Holland.

All of this is on top of supplying a worldwide network of around 200 M&S stores – as far afield as Hong Kong, Singapore and the Middle East – with crumpets, scones, pancakes, bagels, rolls, Welsh Cakes and pikelets.

The company’s growing success with overseas sales has been recognised by the Welsh Government who have named the Village Bakery as an official Welsh Export Champion.

“Our exports are doing really well for us and we are going from strength to strength in all the different countries that we’re dealing with and we’re adding a few more on the order book,” explained Commercial Director Lesley Arnot.

“We’re also enjoying success in the Middle East where we’ve launched across several different countries with two different retailers out there.

“I’m absolutely delighted with the way things are developing – and there’s much more to come as well. We have some really good foundations for expansion into other export markets.”

It was a sentiment echoed by the Village Bakery’s Commercial Controller, New Zealander Glen Marriott, who played a key role in securing the Australia contract.

He said: “The distributor was looking for a new supplier and Googled people who make pancakes and we popped up because we had just invested £2 million in a new pancake production line.

“They liked our values and how we promote from within, the quality of the products and the facilities and that prompted a phone call from their managing director and it went from there.

“They have launched two ranges , a food service range and a retail range. They’ve had a really excellent response. They started out in Western Australia and the only state where they’re not available is Tasmania – so we’ve got mainland Australia completely covered.

“It also shows the value of the investment the Village Bakery made in the new pancake line. It was money well spent.”

Senior National Account Manager Allison Winstanley is being kept busy looking after major UK and European retailers.

“I’m fluent in German and I speak passable French so I also look after our European exports, managing our customer base in Germany and France,” she said.

“I’m very busy because there are lots of new opportunities that we’re following up on, as well as developing the relationships with existing customers.

“I love working here because there’s a very dynamic, fast paced environment. There are lots of new and exciting challenges here every day.”

CEO Robin Jones said: “Exports are really taking off and the team are doing an absolutely brilliant job, finding some great partners and distributors.

“We make really, really good quintessential British products and there’s clearly a growing appetite for them at home in the UK but also abroad

“It’s wonderful to think you can buy Village Bakery products in so many places across the world, whether that’s Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore or across so much of mainland Europe.

“This is all creating extra volume here so it feeds into sustaining existing jobs and creating new ones which all adds up to boosting the local economy here in Wrexham.”

Pictured from left, Commercial Director Lesley Arnot, Senior National Account Manager Allison Winstanley and Commercial Controller Glen Marriott (Picture by Mandy Jones)