Bakery Manufacturer of the Year 2026 finalists unveiled

Thanks to our category sponsor

Businesses based in Clwyd, Cheshire, Cumbria, and Gloucestershire make up the finalists for Bakery Manufacturer of the Year 2026.

As per criteria for the category, sponsored by equipment supplier Fritsch, judges looked to recognise companies that are ambitious, growing, and striving to be the best in their sector. Finalists shortlisted were able to also show they were delivering quality at scale, as well as caring for customers, their own staff, and the environment.

Read on to find out more about each of the four finalists:

Bells of Lazonby

This family-owned firm based in the village of Lazonby has evolved over 80 years from a local bakery serving surrounding Cumbrian communities to a large-scale supplier of both conventional and free-from sweet treats. Its turnover rose by almost a fifth in 2025 to £48.6m with profit staying healthy at £2.2m.

As one of the county’s largest employers with around 400 people on the payroll, Bells combines high-volume production capacity through automation with hand-crafted flexibility. This allows it to keep up with the demands of its retail and foodservice customers, creating new variations across formats including cakes, traybakes, slices, muffins, mince pies, and more. Last year alone, it produced 29 million mince pies for own-label supermarket ranges.

It has also seen its We Love Cake brand achieve mainstream success in free-from aisles, driven by category insights and consumer-led NPD.

The company has continued to reinvest profits into manufacturing and infrastructure improvements as well as site expansion plans designed to support long-term growth and increased capacity. Judges enjoyed how Bells demonstrated passion and proud heritage whilst adapting expertly to market changes. “The free-from facility was very impressive,” commented one judge.

Four Anjels

Cheltenham-based sweet treat specialist Four Anjels operates out of a 25,000 sq ft bakery, which contains a dedicated 5,000 sq ft gluten-free pod. It’s focussed on using recognised ingredients, minimal processes, and no unnecessary complexity, creating bespoke products by hand supported by key pieces of equipment such as mixers and ultrasonic cutters.

Acquired out of administration in 2010 with just five staff, it has grown to employ 90 workers at its current site and is now part of the Olidor Group. Four Anjels is looking to maintain a rapid growth trajectory, with sales almost doubling year-on-year and gross profit more than doubling during the first quarter of 2026 compared to the previous year.

The company’s primary partner is Marks & Spencer, to whom it supplies lines across Café, Food on the Move, Retail, Postal, and International channels. It also has an increasing number of foodservice and retail brand customers.

A standout launch from the past year was the Just X date bar range for M&S. Soaring demand for the product, made with only five ingredients, pushed Four Anjels’ capabilities to the max, but it was able to redesign its processes to enable production of 400,000 units per month without compromising handcrafted values.

Praise was given by judges for the “outstanding quality” of Four Anjels’ products, which they noted was shown in customer satisfaction. A judge said: “it’s great to see this sector growing and no corners being taken”.

Village Bakery

This Welsh manufacturer has a literal phoenix from the flames storyline, which saw it bounce back from a devastating fire in 2019 to build and operate five separate bakeries at Wrexham Industrial Estate – including its 140,000 sq ft ‘super bakery’ and 35,000 sq ft dedicated gluten free factory – as well as its original site in nearby Coedpoeth. Together, these sites employ 1,050 people.

Upon acquiring Village Bakery in 2024, French baking group Menissez has made significant investments to support further growth including £20m on a second roll production line and £27m on a brand-new facility built on the same grounds as the fire, to open in the coming months. The company reported record turnover of £146m, representing a 16% improvement on the previous term – it has tripled sales over the past seven years.

Village Bakery expressed its pride in offering staff a Real Living Wage, while a state-of-the-art Baking Academy has it partnering with Coleg Cambria to deliver an apprenticeship programme. In fact, all its bakery managers and supervisors have started out as apprentices and worked their way up the ranks.

Its major push on exports, most recently landing a deal to supply Japan with Welsh cakes, loaves and rolls, has seen in presented with the King’s Award for Enterprise for international trade last year. It has also opened new markets in Australia, the Middle East, France, Italy, Belgium, Holland and Norway.

Judges witnessed an “impressive, highly automated factory” when visiting Village Bakery, with one commenting that the company has “take the lead in manufacturing artisan bread at scale”.

Wrights

From its humble beginnings selling meat & potato pies from a Stoke-on-Trent doorstep in 1926, Wrights has grown to become a £90m turnover business with 600 employees based at its site in Crewe.

The company supplying over 500 different SKUs – both savoury and sweet – to more than 800 retail, foodservice, and wholesale customers in the UK and abroad. It also operates a growing estate of branded stores, including its recently opened ninth franchise location in Wigston along with 14 company-owned shops in and around Stoke.

At its savoury facility, six production lines make over three million products each week including the classic meat & potato pies and sausage rolls, as well as football club favourite Chicken Balti Pie. Over the road at the sweet bakery, the likes of traditional Vanilla Slices, doughnuts and cookies are produced – the latter on a brand-new £600k line invested in by owner The Compleat Food Group after securing a new cookie contract earlier this year.

Practical changes such as manually balancing factory temperatures and adapting ingredients storage based on weather conditions has supported a reignited NPD pipeline including two launches to mark its centennial celebrations: a Caramel Custard Slice and a Chicken, Leek & Bacon Pie created in collaboration with Great British Menu chef Thom Bateman.

A major takeaway from the judges visit to Wrights was how workshops as part of its Master Baker Programme were implemented across the business, giving greater ownership of the products and an overall uplift in quality. “The business really values everyone’s input and showcased a big drive to grow further,” commented a judge.