An award-winning bakery has reached an important milestone in its history and now employs more than 250 people.
Recruitment has exceeded expectations since the Village Bakery opened a third bakery on Wrexham Industrial Estate.
The company invited Wrexham AM Lesley Griffiths to help celebrate the good jobs news.
The family firm is run by Alan Jones and his three sons, Robin, Tim and Christien.
They make premium breads, morning goods, savouries and bespoke products for major supermarket chains and their own shops and cafes.
The main bakery is in Minera and in 2008 they opened the most modern gluten-free bakery in Europe as part of a deal with the Swiss giant, the Hero Group.
The £3 million state-of-the art Village Bakery (Nutrition) Ltd on Wrexham Industrial Estate was officially opened by the then First Minister of Wales, Rhodri Morgan AM.
Then just over a year ago the company invested £7 million in the third bakery when they took over a 30,000 sq ft unit next door to the gluten-free bakery.
Originally, the aim was to employ 30 people but in the event we’ve recruited more than 40, taking the total workforce over the 250 mark.
According to Lesley Griffiths, who is also the Welsh Government Health Minister, that’s “fantastic” news for the local economy.
She said: “It’s great to see a home grown company doing so well and flying the flag for quality produce from Wrexham.
“They have perfected the right combination of the art of the craft baker with the latest technology.
“The Village Bakery is a family firm which means they can respond quickly to the needs of their customers.
“The other great thing is that wherever possible they try and source their ingredients locally.”
Joint Managing Director Robin Jones is delighted with the success of the new bakery.
He said: “We’re very proud of what we’ve achieved in such a short time. It’s been very hard but we’ve got some great people working with us and they’ve helped make the difference”
“The economy has been very difficult over the past few years but we believe that if you make the right products of the right quality that customers will want to buy them.
“Throughout this time, we’ve continued to invest in the latest technology whilst remaining true to our traditional values,
“We are craft bakers born and bred, but we utilise the best of European machinery to make our products even better.
“Our local sourcing policy is something we hold dear to our hearts and it’s helped us in expanding with the larger supermarkets because they are looking for quality and provenance.
“We have a passion and a commitment to making even better products and we are very fortunate that we have a great team here.
“Together, we try and improve things all the time – we are never content to rest on our laurels.”
