Speedibake: our priorities are our staff and customers

Speedibake bosses have thanked customers for their support following this weekend’s devastating blaze.

The company’s factory in Wakefield, Yorkshire, was badly damaged in the fire that broke out Saturday afternoon.

At one stage, 140 firefighters from across the county were tackling the blaze at the site, which produces doughnuts, mince pies and speciality breads. All staff were evacuated without injury.

The fire service is still at the scene today (4 February) and Speedibake, which is part of the AB Grains business owned by Associated British Foods, is taking advice on when it will become safe to conduct a more thorough damage assessment.

“Everyone at Speedibake has been shaken by the fire that occurred at our Wakefield bakery on Saturday,” said the company. “We are relieved nobody was hurt and are tremendously grateful to the emergency services who responded across the weekend.

“Sadly, the site suffered considerable damage and, as you’d expect, our business recovery planning is under way as we work through the implications of the incident.”

The company said it would not speculate on the future of the site until the damage assessment was completed.

“In the meantime, our priorities remain supporting our employees and communicating with our customers and suppliers.”

Speedibake is currently working with customers regarding stock availability in its third-party, off-site cold store as they secure alternative supply.

“We are very grateful for the genuine support and understanding demonstrated by our customers as we have responded to this incident,” said the business, adding it was also grateful for offers of assistance it had received from others in the bakery industry.

“Given the scale of what happened at the weekend, our primary focus remains on managing the ongoing situation at our Wakefield facility, while maintaining high standards of customer service from our Bradford site, which was unaffected by this incident.”