Blunkett unveils Fletchers new £7M bakery facility
The new facility will supply fresh and frozen, white, brown and seeded bread rolls to retail and foodservice customers. It houses two production lines, a new cold store and a new despatch area. A new site entrance and two new car parks for employees have also been created. Technical standards throughout the factory are also said to have been improved significantly.
The facility was opened by Gordon Maclean, 65, a recently retired Fletchers' employee of 49 years, alongside the Rt Hon David Blunkett, MP for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough.
Economic recovery
Blunkett said:"I hope that this state-of-the-art development can be seen as a sign of further economic recovery and job security for the Hillsborough area and the wider city region."
Clegg Food Projects was awarded the contract to engineer and install the Stamford facility.
Under the current management, Fletchers' business has been turned around. It has moved from a 2007-2008 operating loss of almost £10M to an operating profit of £600,000 in the last financial year.
There are four businesses within the group. Fletchers Sheffield, LBD in Barnsley, Kara in Manchester and Grain D'Or in London. Retail customers account for 60% of Fletchers' turnover and include Tesco, Sainsbury, and Marks & Spencer. The rest of Fletcher's business is in the foodservice sector, to which it supplies schools, local authorities, fast food outlets, restaurants and bars.
