The bakery landscape is an ever-moving feast as businesses look to keep up with consumer wants and needs, legislative changes, and market conditions in a mature category.
This inevitably results in mergers and acquisitions, of which there were many over the past year.
Some of the biggest moves took place in the bread market as certain players looked to stay afloat, while others called in administrators opening up opportunities for those faring better against the headwinds. Elsewhere, two food-to-go giants looked to join forces to get even bigger.
Not all of these deals have come to fruition yet, meaning there will be more change to come in 2026.
For now, British Baker takes a look at some of the biggest deals of 2025 and what they meant for the businesses involved:
BPO snaps up Roberts Bakery sites
Nearly 450 jobs were saved when investment firm Boparan Private Office (BPO) snapped up Frank Roberts & Son Ltd in a pre-pack deal worth £21.6m in mid-October.
It came after the bakery manufacturer filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators the week prior following a series of significant challenges, including a devastating fire in 2023 at its Northwich bread plant. A report filed on Companies House revealed details of the deal and also of the debts owed by Roberts Bakery, including £2.2m to employees and £15.5m to suppliers.
BPO secured two of Roberts’ sites in the deal – the biscuit production one in Winsford and the aforementioned Northwich bread plant, creating a new company called Roberts Bakery 1887 in the process. The new owner has got things up and running since the acquisition, recently kicking off a recruitment drive for the sites to help it keep up during the busy Christmas period.
Warburtons boosts pitta production with Roberts Ilkeston factory
Britain’s biggest bread brand Warburtons also sought to boost its capabilities with the purchase of Roberts Bakery’s speciality bread factory in Ilkeston, Derbyshire.
The aforementioned Companies House documents revealed that the firm paid £2.1m for the site which it will use to boost the production of its bakery occasion products such as thins and pittas. The site was previously used to produce sub rolls, sandwich thins, and paninis for the out-of-home market as well as speciality loaves such as cranberry bread, poppyseed bread, and onion bread.
ABF and Hovis join forces to create a ‘profitable bread business’
Further shake-ups in the bread market came as Kingsmill owner ABF made a play for Hovis as the two firms look to create a ‘profitable bread business’.
The deal is currently sitting with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) so, unlike many of the others listed here, hasn’t been completed yet but it’s definitely worthy of a mention when two of Britain’s biggest bread brands look to merge as a result of increasingly tough market conditions.
The financial details of the acquisition, which will combine the production and distribution activities of the two firms, have not been revealed. However, the parties claim the move will drive ‘significant cost synergies and efficiencies’ to ensure the business is sustainable over the long term.
Food-to-go-giant on the horizon as Greencore seeks Bakkavor takeover
The £1.2bn takeover of Bakkavor by fellow food-to-go giant Greencore has been given the green light by the CMA.
Phase 1 investigation saw the CMA raise concerns about competition in the own-label chilled sauces market in the UK. However, Greencore proposed the sale of its manufacturing site in Bristol, which is responsible for this part of its operation, thus allowing the deal to move ahead.
Similarly to the proposed Hovis and ABF deal, Greencore’s acquisition of Bakkavor isn’t over the line yet but when it makes it, it’ll create a UK food-to-go manufacturing business worth £4bn with a workforce of around 30,500 staff.
Cérélia admits defeat by offloading pastry brand Jus-Rol
Things didn’t go the same way for Cérélia which conceded defeat in its long legal battle with the CMA over pastry business Jus-Rol, offloading it to private equity firm Rinkelberg Capital in March.
The battle had been ongoing since 2021 when Cérélia announced its intentions to buy the Jus-Rol brand from General Mills, which was selling its dough business in the UK, Ireland, and Germany. The transaction was completed in early 2022 but just days later the CMA placed it under an Initial Enforcement Order saying it had reasonable grounds for suspecting the deal would result in a substantial lessening of competition in the ready-roll pastry category. Three years of back and forth then ensued, with the battle going all the way to the Supreme Court.
Jus-Rol’s latest acquisition came shortly after Rinkelberg bought PA Ross Food Group, a sales and marketing company that describes itself as experts in bringing impulse, bakery and frozen products to the UK retailers, with Jus-Rol subsequently being managed by the PA Ross team.
The arrangement for Jus-Rol means that the ready-to-roll pastry is still being produced by Cérélia UK’s manufacturing arm BakeAway, which operates a £30m factory in Corby, Northamptonshire.
Cooplands returns to its Yorkshire roots
Ownership of bakery chain Cooplands returned to Yorkshire this autumn after a new management team acquired the business back from Blackburn-headquartered EG Group.
The bakery chain operates over 150 shops across the northeast of England as well as two production sites in Scarborough and Durham, with more than 1,400 staff employes at its locations. John Ruddock, who has worked for Cooplands for 24 years, continues as CEO with the firm said to be focusing on strategic growth for the future whilst preserving traditional values.
It came as part of a celebratory year for the business which saw it commemorate its 140th anniversary, be shortlisted in the Craft Bakery Business of the Year category at the Baking Industry Awards, and have product developer Emily Anderson named Rising Star at the black-tie event.
Finsbury enters D2C market with Lola’s Cupcakes deal
Finsbury Food Group entered the direct-to-consumer market in August after acquiring a majority stake in Lola’s Cupcakes.
The deal saw Finsbury take a 70% stake in the premium cupcake and celebration cake business, which continues to be led by managing director Asher Budwig while benefitting from Finsbury’s manufacturing expertise, scale, and commercial reach.
By adding direct to consumer capability to its portfolio, Finsbury said it broadens its routes to market, strengthens its position in the UK celebration cake and cupcake sector, and creates new opportunities for innovation and collaboration.
Compleat gets a real taste of Yorkshire with new addition to portfolio
As part of its bid to become the UK’s number one chilled prepared food company, Compleat Food Group snapped up The Real Yorkshire Pudding Co in March 2025.
The supplier, which produces own label Yorkshire puddings for UK supermarkets as well as branded ones, has an annual turnover of £33m and is driving ‘consistent double-digit growth in the category’. It was founded in 1992 and produces Yorkshire puddings, toad in the hole, and sponge puddings, with vegan and gluten-free options, from its site in Thorne, South Yorkshire. At the time of acquisition, it employed 226 people which Compleat would keep. The new owner also noted that it would be investing in the site and growing the brand while integrating it into its wide portfolio.
Tiffin Sandwiches takes a bigger bite of food-to-go
Bradford-based Tiffin Sandwiches has taken a bigger bite of the food-to-go market this year with not one, but two acquisitions.
It snapped up Scottish sandwich market PJ’s Foods in April, followed by fellow Bradford-based manufacturer Love Bites over the summer.
PJ’s Foods has been trading since 1996 and supplies between 85,000 and 95,000 products per week to education institutions, hospitals, retail units, in-flight caterers, stadiums, councils, and sporting events within Scotland. This includes sandwiches, toasties, paninis, bloomers, and sourdough baguettes.
Love Bites, meanwhile, was founded by husband-and-wife team Richard and Gill Smith in 1991, producing deep-wedge sandwiches, wraps, rolls, pizzas, and salad to independent retailers, petrol stations, hospitals, universities, hotels, corporate businesses, and events.
The deals come amid an expansion plan for Tiffin which has been granted permission to build a new 50,000 sq ft factory next to its existing site on Commondale Way. The project, revealed last September, is expected to cost up to £10m and create around 400 new jobs for the local community.
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