Record overseas sales at North Wales bakery earn King’s Award and create 100 new jobs

The prestigious award was bestowed on the Wrexham-based Jones Village Bakery for its spectacular short-term growth in exports over the past three years.

Recent successes have included breaking into new markets in Australia, the Middle East, France, Italy, Belgium, Holland and Norway.

Eighteen months ago, the firm’s growing global reputation earned it a lucrative contract to supply pancakes to Australia after investing £2 million in a new, state-of-the-art pancake production line.

The initial agreement was to supply three types of American-style pancakes, buttermilk, blueberry and lemon flavours.

They’ve been such a big hit that the bakery has now clinched a deal to supply its Australian customer with Welsh Cakes and pikelets as well.

All of this is on top of supplying a worldwide network of around 200 M&S stores – as far afield as Hong Kong and Singapore - with crumpets, scones, pancakes, bagels, rolls, Welsh Cakes and pikelets.

The big increase in exports over the past few years has helped create 100 new jobs at the bakery.

The go-ahead company, which celebrated its 90th anniversary last year, is now targeting Canada and Japan as a potential new markets where it sees potential for more growth.

The award is the third time the Village Bakery has been honoured by King Charles, the first two occasions being before he ascended to the throne.

Former company chairman Alan Jones, who’s now retired, baked bread for the then Prince Charles, in the old brick oven at Erddig Hall when he visited the National Trust owned stately home on the outskirts of Wrexham in 1977.

Then in 2015 the Prince, as he then was, officially opened the company’s new bakery on Wrexham Industrial Estate when he and the then Duchess of Cornwall, now Queen Camilla, showed their dexterity when they learned how to flip Welsh Cakes on the hot plate.

Alan’s son Robin, who led the export drive in recent years with his brother, Christien, was thrilled that the company had been honoured again by the monarch.

Shareholder Robin said: “We were delighted and humbled to be recognised with a King’s Award for Enterprise.

“It’s incredible when you think that the company was a small back street bakery employing six people in Coedpoeth when it was bought by Dad and my grandfather in 1964.

“As well as being a hugely proud moment for the Jones family, the King’s Award is also a fitting reward for our brilliant and dedicated staff who are the secret ingredient in our ongoing success.

“The Village Bakery is an indigenous Welsh company and we’re proud to be flying the flag for Wales right across the world.”

Glen Marriott, the company’s commercial controller, played a key role in increasing overseas sales and he was last year named as an official Export Champion by the Welsh Government.

He said: “In 2023 the Department of Business and Trade and Industry brought a delegation here and that helped spur the growth we’ve seen in recent years.

“Since then the exposure we’ve had from Welsh Government in terms of putting us out there, giving us opportunities to meet with potential international customers and providing leads for other countries has been brilliant. Without their support this wouldn’t have happened.

“Once the Welsh Government knew we were exporting to Australia, they were very helpful and that’s opened up other doors over there.

“They’re also helping us quite a bit at the moment with Canada because we are looking at going there next.

“Japan is another potential market where they have introduced me to people.”

Added impetus came last year after the company secured investment for a multi-million pound expansion plan from French bakery giant, Menissez, a family-owned business that was founded in 1965, a year after the Jones family took over the Village Bakery.

Village Bakery CEO Simon Thorpe said: “We are in a very good place in terms of where we’re heading. There’s a list of countries that we want to get into that we’re working through and we are also getting loads of enquiries from all over the world.

“We are now being recognised as one of the leading exporters in the Welsh food and drink sector.

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“Exports are becoming an increasingly important part of the company and it will continue to grow.

“As well as being a great honour, it is going to be a huge help in a practical sense. Having the award will open so many more doors from an exporting perspective.

“In terms of our standing in the export community, it will be brilliant. The long term benefits to the business are going to be huge.”