STORY: Village Bakery creating 115 jobs after major investment
The owners of family-run Village Bakery are being backed by Limerston Capital, a UK private equity firm that invests in ambitious, medium-sized businesses. The family will retain a material investment in the company, which is due to open a new super bakery on Wrexham Industrial Estate this summer.
The value of the investment and what equity stake it gives Limerston Capital in the business have not been disclosed.
The business will continue to be run by the existing management team, headed by Robin Jones, the managing director, and his brother Christien, the projects director, with their father, Alan, stepping down as chairman after 60 years in the bakery industry.
Robin said Village Bakery had many potential suitors wanting to buy in to the company’s success story but Limerston Capital was the ideal fit: “It was really important to the family that we found the right partner and Limerston Capital are the perfect fit because our ambitions are well matched.
“Limerston Capital very quickly understood what the Village Bakery is all about in terms of our ethos and recognised we have a fantastic team of employees and a highly motivated management team with decades of bakery experience.
“For our part, as a family, we like that the investment in the company is coming from such a trusted, ethical and reliable source.”
The new 'super bakery' on Ash Road has been designed and built with growth in mind. It will be 140,000 sq feet – more than three times the size of the one it is replacing following the devastating fire of August 2019.
As well as housing the company’s headquarters, the new premises will also be home to their pioneering Baking Academy and Innovation Centre – both twice the size of the original versions – to train a new generation of bakers and develop new products.
The resilience, ingenuity and ambition shown by the company and their “wonderful workforce” in bouncing back from the disaster 18 months ago were among the reasons Limerston was attracted to the Village Bakery.
James Paget, a Limerston Capital Founding Partner, said: “We are delighted to partner with Robin and Christien Jones and will be supporting them as they continue to invest in Wrexham, recruit more people locally and further develop the Village Bakery’s position as a centre of baking excellence and innovation."
For more information visit www.villagebakery.co.uk
