The investment from Boparan Private Office has resulted in the creation of a new company, Roberts Bakery 1887 Ltd, and will secure 433 jobs at the historic bakery business.
Roberts Bakery 1887 Ltd will form part of the Boparan Private Office portfolio of companies, benefitting from the backing and expertise of a strong and diverse enterprise with established interests in the bakery sector.
The news follows Roberts Bakery announcing that it was preparing to enter administration earlier this month.
It came less than six weeks after the bakery said it was planning to close its site in IIkeston, among other restructuring announcements which put hundreds of jobs at risks at its Northwich site.
The Northwich facility suffered a devastating blow as a result of a fire in 2023, which the firm said it has struggled to recover from in full.
At the same time, the bakery market has been extremely tough with rising costs and an increasingly competitive market. The traditional bread category is particularly challenging at the moment, as seen by the consolidation activity between bread giants Hovis and Kingsmill.
New sandwich alternatives, premium loaves, and healthier breads have taken bigger and bigger bites from the category, with brands such as Jason’s Sourdough and Village Bakery gaining more traction as a result of clever innovation.
Sarah O’Toole, Perry Higgins and Helen Wheeler-Jones of PwC have been appointed joint administrators of Frank Roberts & Sons Limited. Immediately on appointment, the they completed a sale of the company’s business and assets to Boparan.
While, the transaction includes the transfer of 433 employees, consultation for a number of employees was already ongoing prior to the appointment. As a result, on appointment 86 employees were made redundant.
The joint administrators are working closely with the Redundancy Payments Service (RPS) to ensure those affected receive their statutory entitlements as soon as possible.
Boparan Private Office has said its backing will support the existing management team and bring new talent into the business to ensure a sustainable future for the brand.
“We are proud to play a part in preserving this iconic bakery, its people, and its heritage. Frank Roberts & Sons has been at the heart of the community for over a century, and we are committed to supporting its long-term success as Roberts Bakery 1887 Ltd,” a spokesperson for Boparan Private Office said.
In a statement on the investment, the Roberts Family added: “The Roberts family are profoundly relieved that the business has been saved by a consortium of the management team backed by BPO and that there will be a recovery plan to ensure it can prosper and thrive and that so many jobs will be saved. We are of course sad it will no longer be us who are there to share in this new opportunity.
“It has been our utter privilege to have known so many of the people who have worked with us, and we wish you all our very best wishes for the future.”
Financial details of the transaction are not being revealed at this stage.
Boparan Private Office has a broad portfolio spanning food production, hospitality, and consumer brands, including Bernard Matthews; the European 2 Sisters poultry arm; and Hook 2 Sisters – the latter of which it acquired earlier this year.
