Bolton baker Warburtons invests £100m in bakery acquisition and group upgrades

Source: The Business Desk   Neil Hodgson

Bolton-based family-owned bakery group, Warburtons, has struck a deal to acquire a Yorkshire site from supermarket group Morrisons, making it the group’s 13th production location.

Warburtons is acquiring the former Rathbones bakery in Wakefield from Bradford-based Morrisons, which had announced its planned closure, with the loss of 115 jobs, in January this year.

The deal is part of a £100m investment by Warburtons, alongside a makeover of its gluten-free site at Newburn, near Newcastle-upon-Tyne, a new distribution centre in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, and three new production lines at its Bolton and Burnley sites.

The acquisition deal is with Myton Food Group, which is Morrisons’ production arm.

It includes the land, buildings and all the production equipment and is expected to create more than 40 jobs when the site reopens this autumn.

Warburtons was originally established as a grocery shop in 1876 by Thomas and Ellen Warburton.

Today it is run by the fifth generation of the Warburton family, Jonathan, Ross and Brett.

Chairman, Jonathan Warburton, said: “We’re extremely pleased to have agreed a deal on the former Rathbones site and look forward to welcoming new colleagues to the business very soon.

“Our family business takes a long term approach, investing in our infrastructure to ensure we not only meet consumer needs today, but are set up to do so for the future.”