Stockport is home to many successful manufacturing businesses and this week members of Marketing Stockport, GM Chamber, Stockport Council and the Stockport Business Awards were invited to view the new Allied Bakeries site in Bredbury, Stockport.
Owned by Associated British Foods, a diversified international food, ingredients and retail group (including Primark) with sales of £13.3bn and over 113,000 employees in 47 countries, the bakery has been in Stockport for over 30 years when it was known as the ‘Sunblest Bakery in Bredbury’.
A £30m investment in its manufacturing facilities in Bredbury clearly demonstrates yet another growing business in the manufacturing sector coming out of Stockport. Such investment into the local economy benefits the borough with employment and opportunities across the local supply chain.
Together with the production facility, the site also has a distribution depot delivering fresh bread to the retailer network across the north and UK delivering to 1,500 customers per day.
The production lines are producing a staggering 2 million loaves per week including their Kingsmill range and the new ‘Great White’ high fibre loaf and most importantly the site employs 520 people, predominantly from the local Stockport area.
As with all business – continual innovation and training is key to the success and Allied Bakeries have a robust and structured ongoing training programme for staff.
The site visit also included a tour of the production facility and indulged in the aroma of fresh baked bread !
visitors (duly dressed in protective clothing) pictured with General Manager – Carl Hampson (far right)