Baker & Baker has expanded its UK manufacturing footprint with the acquisition of Scottish free-from sweet bakery specialist Lazy Day Foods.
The deal is said to pave the way for the European bakery supplier to increase its presence within the growing free-from segment. It will also leverage its existing customer network to support Lazy Day’s expansion, including further into international markets, as well as helping extend its product offering.
Co-founded in 2006 by food scientists Dr Sally Beattie and Emer Bustard, Lazy Day has grown to supply both branded and private label products to major retailers and foodservice customers. Turnover reached £14.3m according to latest results for the year to 5 April 2026.
Its entire range – including hand-baked cakes, biscuits and traybakes totalling around 75 permanent and seasonal lines – is vegan and made without gluten, milk, eggs, and nuts at a purpose-built 26,500 sq ft facility in Harthill Industrial Estate, North Lanarkshire.
This site becomes Baker & Baker’s fifth bakery in the UK, joining those in Ashington, Bradford, Daventry, and the Wirral, where it also has its HQ. It is the second acquisition completed by the business since it separated from CSM Bakery Solutions in 2021, having purchased a pastel de nata factory in Peniche, Portugal the following year.
While the co-founders are stepping away from Lazy Day, all of the firm’s roughly 190 staff members are keeping their jobs under Baker & Baker, which increases its company-wide headcount to 2,650. The consumer-facing Lazy Day brand is also being retained, and will be proactively marketed by its new owner’s existing customer base.
“We’re delighted to welcome Lazy Day Foods into the Baker & Baker family,” commented Baker & Baker CEO Matthew Acheson. “We have strong expertise in gluten-free bakery via our Ashington site, and this acquisition supports our expansion into the adjacent category of ‘free-from’, which represents an exciting area of growth.”
Acheson expressed his belief that the scale and broad customer relationships of Baker & Baker will help accelerate the growth of Lazy Day Foods, while the brand’s deep experience and expertise will further enhance the group’s capabilities and category offering.
“We’re firmly committed to maintaining the operation and employee base at the Lazy Day Foods site in Harthill, and we expect to see the business continue to flourish – we’re excited about the growth possibilities over the coming years,” added Acheson.
Baker & Baker has manufacturing capabilities across Europe in the doughnut, muffin, brownie, cookie, cake, speciality bread, and viennoiserie categories, with customers in retail, foodservice, and artisan channels. Its existing portfolio of brands includes Baker & Baker American Bakery, Goldfrost, Concadoro, and Molco, whilst also holding licensing brand agreements with Mondelēz and Disney. Cocoa price hikes hit Baker & Baker’s financial performance during 2025, with gross profit dipping by 4.8% from £31m to £29.5m.
Other bakery manufacturer acquisitions just in the month of October include Leeds-headquartered own-label supplier David Wood Baking being bought out by its lenders Barings bank and Irwin’s Bakery in Northern Ireland ending 114 years of family ownership with a sale to local business Sam Rusk.
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