Jones Village Bakery’s £20m line to double roll capacity

The Jones Village Bakery has cemented its position as a major UK food manufacturer with the commissioning of a new £20 million roll production line at its headquarters on the Wrexham Industrial Estate.

Completed two days ahead of its demanding 14-month schedule, the new line is critical to the company’s growth strategy as it immediately doubles the bakery’s roll-making capacity. This massive capacity expansion is necessary to meet “the growing appetite for our products,” according to CEO Simon Thorpe.

“The new roll production line is a fantastic investment that will enable us to satisfy the growing appetite for our products,” Thorpe stated. “If you make fantastic products and provide excellent customer service, it will invariably create demand.”

This project is a cornerstone of a wider £47 million investment package by the company, which also includes plans for a production facility on the site of the bakery that was destroyed by fire in 2019.
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​The success of the installation was attributed to the precise planning led by group head of engineering Kris Green. The equipment, sourced from the Netherlands, was chosen and configured to deliver both industrial-scale efficiency and the artisan quality the Village Bakery is known for.

“The equipment is the very best, most modern that’s available on the market and has come from the Netherlands,” Green explained. “We chose it because it makes the very best product and it’s been configured in a way that is bespoke to our particular needs.”

​Green further detailed how the technology benefits the workforce: “The new roll line has significantly increased our capacity, utilising the skills of craft bakers without them having to do any of the heavy manual tasks. It’s advanced, highly sophisticated equipment that mimics what you do in a craft bakery.”
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​The doubling of capacity will translate directly into workforce growth, with the company aiming to fill 60 new jobs by next summer as demand continues to rise.

​Group head of operations Andy Beckett highlighted the opportunities presented by the investment, saying: “Once you’re in bakery, it becomes a passion so I was thrilled to join the Village Bakery which continues to enjoy spectacular growth… We’re really going places.”
​Thorpe concluded that the project is a powerful statement of the company’s core values: “This is testament to what the Village Bakery has always been about – investing to grow with quality at the heart of everything we do… This is great news, not just for the Village Bakery but also for the wider Wrexham economy.”