Yorkshire baker to boost capacity after £600k loan
Shipley-based Hughes Family Bakers will use the investment from NPIF – FW Capital Debt Finance to increase on-site capacity, simplify its product range in line with current consumer trends and work towards achieving British Retail Consortium (BRC) accreditation.
The 12 additional jobs will take staff numbers at the Shipley site to 85.
The company announced in August it was merging with Asa Nicholson of Bradford as part of its expansion plans. A rebrand is expected to follow later this year.
Founded in 1925, Hughes is owned and run by Ian Connell, John Cummings and Colin Davies, who together have more than 120 years of combined food sector experience from working with retailers and brands such as Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, Rowntree’s and Golden Wonder.
Supplying on a large scale
Davies said BRC accreditation was a “pre-requisite” if a manufacturer was to supply the UK’s major supermarkets on a large scale, which forms part of Hughes’s growth plan.
“Hughes is an established bakery in Yorkshire working with Asda and Co-op as well as a large number of smaller, independent retailers,” he said.
“Our plans now involve increasing our capacity for commercial volumes so we can service more of the larger retailers and we are already talking to the big supermarket chains about achieving listings.
“We also intend to innovate within our product development so we can be more artisan in what we do.”
FW Capital senior investment executive Keith Charlton said Hughes had a “solid reputation” and an experienced and committed management team that have a clear vision for the company’s expansion.
‘Clear growth opportunities’
“The directors have identified clear growth opportunities and are already putting in place the elements needed to make these happen,” Charlton added.
“This is an excellent example of how NPIF investment and support from FW Capital can help ambitious businesses move forward and scale up.”
Operating from the British Business Bank’s Sheffield head office, the NPIF provides a mix of debt and equity funding (from £25,000 to £2m).
It works alongside 10 local enterprise partnerships, the combined authorities and growth hubs, as well as local accountants, fund managers and banks, to support northern-based small and medium-sized enterprises at all stages of their development.
NPIF is supported financially by the EU, using funding from the European Regional Development Fund.
