Wrexham-based business Village Bakery has announced it will be creating an extra 50 jobs, which will include a dozen apprenticeships.

Bakery operations director Simon Thorpe said the recruitment drive had been prompted by a period of significant growth.

“As part of the recruitment campaign, we’re looking to take on another 12 bakery apprentices,” Thorpe said. “Our grow-your-own approach is something we’ve built our business on strongly over many years and, most recently, we’ve invested in the new Baking Academy and Innovation Centre and really we’re going from strength to strength.”

The positions will be spread across its three bakeries on Wrexham Industrial Estate and in Coedpoeth. The apprentices will be trained at its Baking Academy and Innovation Centre, which was opened by The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall in July 2015.

Robins Jones, managing director of Village Bakery, said the business had a great deal of opportunities.

“I think what sets us apart as an employer is that we can really add value and help our staff develop,” Jones said. “We’re looking to invest in people, and looking for people to invest in us. We like to look after our people. We value ourselves as a family business.”

In February 2017, Village Bakery claimed to have become the world’s largest producer of Welsh cakes.