Bakers Basco has successfully brought a legal claim against a Cambridge bakery following months of repeated misuse and unlawful retention of bread baskets and dollies.
The company presented Northampton County Court with evidence that Barkers (Cambridge) Ltd had unlawfully retained and repurposed baskets and dollies belonging to Bakers Basco and its member companies to store and distribute its own products.
This was despite the bakery previously signing an undertaking in 2017 not to use the company’s equipment without permission, it stated.
Bakers Basco operates a pool of over five million baskets and 500,000 dollies for 25 UK bakery licensees including Warburtons, Hovis, Fine Lady Bakeries, Allied Bakeries, and Frank Roberts & Sons.
According to Bakers Basco, Barkers continued to misappropriate the property across multiple locations, picked up by its investigation team, who uncovered extensive evidence of misuse, backed by photographic, video, and GPS tracking data over seven visits.
Emily Gizzi, investigations officer at Bakers Basco, who led the recovery efforts, said: “We recovered our equipment directly from Barkers’ premises and even discovered our baskets in use at third-party customer sites, such as a catering location in Cambridge, which had received deliveries from Barkers using our equipment. Despite multiple visits and clear evidence, the defendant continued to ignore warnings, insisting some equipment was theirs – despite having no ownership rights.”
The defendant’s actions date back to March 2023, when the first charge was issued after site visits revealed Omega, Allied, and Hovis baskets were being used to store Barkers’ own products, despite clear markings indicating ownership. Two further charges followed in June and October, with more equipment discovered on-site and in delivery use, according to Bakers Basco.
“To date, we have not received any payment in respect of the three charges despite sending out chaser letters for the first two,” Gizzi added. “They appear to believe they have the right to use our equipment for their own purposes which they simply do not.”
Stacey Brown, national investigations manager at Bakers Basco added that it was “not a one-off misuse”. “In direct contravention of their undertaking to us they continued to cause us considerable expense both financially and practically. They knew the rules but chose to flout them. This is why we took legal action,” she said.
Brown added that Barkers Bakery remains indebted to Bakers Basco in the sum of £7,498.98 (inclusive of the Court fee and legal costs on issuing) plus further interest accrued since the claim was issued.
Bakers Basco’s equipment is marked with clear legal warnings and fitted with GPS technology to aid its investigations team in tracking down equipment that drops out of the supply chain. Site visits, supported by video evidence and recovery efforts, formed a key part of the case presented to Northampton County Court.
“Our members invest heavily in this equipment to transport fresh bread efficiently and safely. When companies misuse it, it increases costs for everyone – bakeries, retailers, and shoppers. We won’t hesitate to escalate matters when our property is taken or abused,” Brown added.
The current operational state of Barker’s remains unclear. According to Companies House, Gtguk Services was appointed as a person with significant control of Barker’s (Cambridge) Ltd. It has been appointed and removed from this role on several occasions since 2023, although Gtguk Services is now listed on the platform as in liquidation.
The bakery operated from an industrial estate on Broad Lane in Cottenham. This was voluntarily closed earlier in 2025 to rectify issues following a routine inspection by South Cambridgeshire District Council’s Environmental Health Commercial Team.
No comments yet