Artisan bakery Peel & Stone is expanding its wholesale operation in Birmingham.

The bakery will convert its Arch 33 lunch outlet in the Jewellery Quarter into a production space to keep up with increasing demand. The public will still be able to visit its flagship Harborne store on the high street.

“The Birmingham food scene has boomed in the past few years and there’s been a huge call for real bread made by real people,” said owner Carl Finn. “We are having to restructure just to cope with demand. We are getting enquiries from businesses as far out as the East Midlands.”

The move is expected to enable Peel & Stone to take on over £50,000 worth of additional orders a year and will simplify production, with bakers able to focus solely on wholesale orders. This will ‘drastically’ improve staff welfare and increase the number of wholesale clients, said the company. Currently, Peel & Stone supplies bread to more than 40 local businesses.

“Unfortunately, over the past six months sales of lunch have dropped massively while demand from wholesale has rocketed. Our bakers have had to work longer and longer hours just to keep up with demand,” Finn added.

The changes will be complete by Christmas, although the lunch shop will be closed from Friday (29th September).