Bakery supplier Bako Group has acquired Devon-based Bako Western for an undisclosed sum.
The acquisition follows a vote from Bako Western’s members on 26 November 2025.
While the two companies have shared a brand as part of an agreement made in the 1960s, they have traded independently until now.
Following the acquisition, the Group will operate a multi-temperature fleet of over 100 vehicles, making deliveries to over 5,000 customers through depots in Cullompton, Durham, Preston and Wimbledon, as well as Finlay’s Foods in Belfast, employing a total of 440 people across all five sites.
Bako is a national supplier of bakery products and ingredients, servicing customers across the UK with business units in Durham, Preston, Wimbledon, Belfast, and now Cullompton. Run ‘by bakers for bakers’, it has approximately 700 shareholders, all of whom are bakers or confectioners. The Group serves over 6,500 customers across the bakery and wider foodservice sectors and provides an extensive product range, including the Bako Select branded offering.
“This acquisition is great news for Bako’s customers across the UK and is a sign of our ongoing commitment to supporting the bakery industry, nationwide,” said Bako Group CEO Mike Tully.
“Bringing the companies together provides substantial operational advantages, including optimised supply chains, increased buying power, shared resources, and enhanced production capabilities.”
Tully added that he is confident that the “combined strength of this unification will help us in our mission to support future generations of bakers across the entire country to succeed and thrive together.”
It’s the second acquisition for the firm over the past two years, having previously added County Armagh-based ingredients firm Finlay’s Foods to the fold in April 2024. The acquisition enabled Bako to open up new markets in Northern Ireland and beyond, also enhancing its production capabilities.
Since then, the business has appointed Bernard McAuley as MD in Ireland to expand its footprint in the region. McAuley joined from Pilgrim’s (JBS), where he led operations for the company’s Irish business following its acquisition of Kerry Foods in 2021.
The acquisition of Finlay’s Foods was described as Bako’s biggest achievement last year, and one of the things which helped it secure the inaugural title of Supplier of the Year at the 2025 Baking Industry Awards.
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