Jones Village Bakery is looking to recruit 50 more staff members after landing new contracts in the Middle East.
The Wrexham-based manufacturer, which was acquired by French bakery giant Menissez Bakery Group in July, confirmed it has clinched two deals to supply gluten-free products to seven Gulf States.
This follows on from a “lucrative contract” secured at the start of the year to supply pancakes to a major Australian wholesale and distribution firm, which proved that a £2m investment in a new pancake production line around a year prior was “money well spent”.
Jones Village Bakery said it has also experienced surging demand from Europe, particularly in France, Germany, Belgium, and Holland, which has put it on a path to break through the £10m barrier for exports this year. This is double the export total it had previously expected to generate in 2023.
The company already supplies a worldwide network of around 200 M&S stores – as far afield as Hong Kong, Singapore, and the Middle East – with crumpets, scones, pancakes, bagels, rolls, Welsh cakes, and pikelets. It has had a similar arrangement with Waitrose stores in the Middle East for more than four years.
Jones Village Bakery said its remarkable growth in overseas sales has seen it recognised by the Welsh Government, who named it as an official Welsh Export Champion.
“Our exports are doing really well for us and we are going from strength to strength in all the different countries that we’re dealing with and we’re adding a few more on the order book,” commented Jone Village Bakery commercial director Lesley Arnot.
“We’re also enjoying success in the Middle East where we’ve launched across several different countries with two different retailers out there. There is huge potential for further growth and we are getting good support from the UK Government’s Department of Business and Trade and the Welsh Government to help us get established in different countries, so it’s really exciting times,” she added.
Jones Village Bakery’s commercial controller Glen Marriott, a New Zealander who played a key role in securing the Australia contract, revealed that the distributor had launched two new ranges for foodservice and retail.
“They’ve had a really excellent response,” he said. “They started out in Western Australia and the only state where they’re not available is Tasmania – so we’ve got mainland Australia completely covered.
“Because of the Free Trade Agreement with Australia, the UK Government is very keen to promote companies that are doing trade in Australia and so they have been very supportive and they have opened quite a few doors for us in other markets as well. We’re reaping the benefit of the trade agreement because it’s reduced the barriers to getting product in, so we don’t have any issues on that score.
“It also shows the value of the investment the Village Bakery made in the new pancake line. It was money well spent,” Marriott expressed.
CEO Robin Jones said: “We make really, really good quintessential British products and there’s clearly a growing appetite for them at home in the UK but also abroad. It’s wonderful to think you can buy Village Bakery products in so many places across the world.
“This is all creating extra volume here so it feeds into sustaining existing jobs and creating new ones which all adds up to boosting the local economy here in Wrexham,” added Jones.
Jones Village Bakery currently employs just over 900 staff across its four separate production sites. Three are located in Wrexham Industrial Estate, including a 140,000 sq ft ‘super bakery’ and headquarters, a 70,000 sq ft dedicated gluten-free unit, and a 50,000 sq ft facility for bagels, sesame buns, scones, dough balls and pancakes. It also operates a 45,000 sq ft factory in nearby Minera, where it makes its Village Bakery branded range.
The company confirmed that the 50 new jobs would be spread across its sites.
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