Burnley Warburtons bakery set for new £8m. crumpet plant

The UK’s largest bakery brand has unveiled a £56m. investment programme in its manufacturing and distribution capabilities to ensure the business is set up to meet the growing demand for innovation in bakery.

As well as the Billington Road crumpet plant, which will be operational by October, three new distribution depots in Widnes, Bognor Regis and Banbury will also be built, creating 150 jobs.

In addition, the business is also improving the environmental credentials of its fleet of almost 1,000 vehicles by introducing new electric and compressed natural gas vehicles and significantly upgrading the technology used across the entire distribution network.

Jonathan Warburton, chairman of Warburtons said: “Investing in our infrastructure is key to ensuring the long-term success of our fifth generation family business. Consumer tastes are changing, and we work hard to make sure we are providing a range of products to meet consumer demand, this investment programme will allow us to better respond to these tastes for non-bread baked goods, and meet the growing demand for crumpets and bread alternatives such as thin bagels.

“We also bake 24/7, 364 days a year and pride ourselves on a running a world class distribution network and our sites are situated across the country to enable us to bake and deliver fresh to over 19,000 stores each day. The investment in 3 new depots will have a critical role in ensuring we can further support our customers and get bakery to store as fresh as possible each day.”

Warburtons, which is headquartered in Bolton, has a network of 11 bakeries and 18 depots across the UK that give it nationwide distribution capability and allows for the delivery of fresh bakery up and down the country.