STORY: Geary’s celebrates significant investment
Geary’s Bakery in Loughborough, which describes itself as “the UK’s number one artisanal craft bakery”, has received “a significant round of investment” from the Unsworth family.
It said in a statement that this will enable the business “to deliver against an ambitious strategic growth plan”.
The investment will see the Unsworth Family take a majority stake in the 113-year-old family business, with Jason Geary, fourth generation baker, remaining as managing director.
It said in the same statement: “Geary will continue to oversee the development and growth of the business, whilst ensuring the values and first-class operation of the business continues.”
Rob Unsworth, will spearhead the business as chairman, “utilising his expertise in delivering against the ambitious top line growth plan of £60m in two years. The focus will be on innovating the category with the introduction of world first technology, a new plant and further employment.”
Geary’s previously invested £15m into a new site at Glenfield, which enabled the company to meet the exponential growth demand of its biggest customer, Aldi.
Rob said: “We have been watching Geary’s for some years and saw a business that exceeded on quality, has first class facilities and delivered a strong sales growth. It was clear this was a business we wanted to be a part of. Our aim is to support the existing infrastructure and add value.
We have an ambitious growth target over the next couple of years and together we are nothing but confident in achieving it.”
Jason added: “The business has seen a substantial turn in fortune over the last decade and in most recent years the investment ploughed into the company has ensured an enviable trajectory of growth. The new investment with the Unsworth Family, will enable our future plans to become a reality and we are excited about the partnership and this next chapter.”
Geary’s two purpose-built factories bake over 1m individual loaves and rolls a month.
Over the last 18 months, Geary’s has been working on developing its own brand, which will be launched early 2020 with its secured first listing with a major retailer.
