Cumbria-based bakery business Bells of Lazonby has appointed Rob Keeping as its new managing director, effective from September.
He replaces Tim Condor, who is moving on to pastures new after nearly four years in the role at the family-owned firm. During this time, Condor has helped guide rapid growth in conventional and free-from sweet bakery including its We Love Cake brand, which has increased volume by 21% and value by 18% since it rolled out a brand refresh last year [Nielsen YOY data, 2024/25].
Keeping joins from Bread Holdings, where he currently operates as MD for the north. Since taking charge of the division in 2017, he has overseen expansion of The Bread Factory production site in Manchester and 300% growth in wholesale revenue, contributing to an overall business worth an estimated £300m.
The business has also supported the surge of its café brand Gail’s, which opened a first northerly shop in Wilmslow in 2023 and has continued to add more new sites across the country to surpass an estate size of 170.
Keeping started his career in the military before entering the food industry in 2013 as head of operations at Exeter Street Cafes & Wholesale. In 2016, he assumed the same role at Caprice Holdings, which owns a group of restaurant brans in London and New York such as Balthazar (which has its own bakery), The Ivy, and Sexy Fish.
A keen learner, Keeping has studied executive leadership attributes at both Oxford University and Harvard Business School, specialising in strategy, economics and operational sustainability. “Bells of Lazonby is a business with quality at its core, both in retail and in foodservice,” he commented. “Coming into role, I am keen to explore new capabilities for the bakery, to drive growth in the free-from and conventional private label space and push further innovation in own brands.”
Keeping described We Love Cake as “a fantastic range”, and said he was looking forward to working with the team to help it gain penetration in retail and across the foodservice channel. “The company values of quality, innovation and family resonate with me, and will lead us on this exciting next chapter,” he added.
Bells of Lazonby will celebrate 80 years of trading in 2026, and has a board comprised of both second and third generation family members. It operates two factories in the village of Lazonby, near Penrith – one for conventional sweet bakery supplied to coffee chains and retailers, and a dedicated gluten, wheat, and dairy free site.
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