South Wales bakery D Gibbon and Sons has invested £100k in new machinery for its factory in order to cope with increased business.

The manufacturer and wholesale bakery, based in Newport, supplies its own breads, rolls, cakes and confectionery, including its Gibbons Family Bakers brand, as well as national brands such as Hovis, across South Wales and areas of the UK.

The money has been spent on two single-rack ovens, which were installed last week, as well as a flow wrapper and an additional van for its fleet.

“The new ovens are less labour-intensive, but we will need to take on more staff because production has gone up,” said bakery manager Julian Owen. “We will probably need around four to six people at first, but hopefully it’ll be double figures over the next 12-18 months.”

“One of our major customers is Aldi and, in time, we’re looking to set up separate distribution in Swindon (Gloucestershire). At the moment, we supply around 25 stores local to Newport, but we’re hoping to expand on that.”

The bakery currently employs around 60 staff, 25-30 of which are in the bakery, and makes around 1,000 deliveries a day.