Bakels has officially opened a “world class” new baking centre at its HQ in Oxfordshire. 

The new centre, which opened last week in Bicester, includes a mini bread plant, six varieties of oven, a range of processing equipment for bread and confectionery products and a state-of-the-art audio-visual system and a presentation suite.

It was opened by Great British Bake Off winner 2013, Frances Quinn.

A key purpose of Bakels’ new Baking Centre is to make it available to its customers throughout craft, plant and in-store sectors.

Paul Morrow, managing director of British Bakels, said: “No other UK ingredients supplier will have a facility such as this. We believe that we are offering a unique service to the trade.”

It can be used for staff training or new product development, carried out independently by companies or with the support of Bakels’ 18-strong product development and application team.

Greg Woodhead, product development manager, added: “This is truly a world class facility designed to help us develop new concepts and ensure our team is the most technically competent. You could easily run a commercial bakery operation from this site.”