Growing bakery company building on sales success
A family-run bakery has revealed ambitious property expansion plans, designed to increase its capacity by around 50%.
Just Desserts, in Shipley, which has also taken on extra staff, has enjoyed a 38% increase in like-for-like sales against last year, with a particular boost on selected individual size product lines in the dessert bar and take-home markets.
Having extended into Unit 3 on Station Road, Shipley, in 2016, the business now includes Unit 4 with plans to build new offices and staff facilities.
The bakery will demolish the existing offices and staff room to further extend its bakery floor space and freezer space to boost its capacity.
In tandem with changes to its buildings the company has strengthened its team with the appointment of a trio of bakers to support rising sales. Johanna Wilton, John Mahony and Stefan Carey-Harrington have all joined the growing bakery team.
Wilton has a BA in Creative Advertising and fell in love with baking whilst at university. She recently worked as a supervisor at LIVINitaly in Leeds and prior to that ran her own small cake making business.
Mahony started his bakery career as an apprentice baker at Morrisons and joins from Bradford-based firm Hughes Family Bakers. He also held positions with Haighs Bakery as a supervisor and bakery manager at Morrisons.
Carey-Harrington has always had a keen interest in food. Like Mahony, he started his baking life as an apprentice baker, this time with Sainsburys and joins Just Desserts after stints with Waitrose and Sainsburys where he worked as a team leader.
In addition, Amanda Marshall has joined Just Desserts from Asda, to strengthen the company’s finance, accounts and credit control team.
The Shipley business has seen its sales double within the dessert bar/take home market against last year, enjoying a significant increase on selected core product lines
The bakery’s Individual Cheesecake range, launched in 2018, has seen the biggest success with a huge 150% increase in like-for-like sales on this time last year.
James O’Dwyer, Managing Director at Just Desserts, said: “We are delighted to expand our bakery team with these new, talented appointments. We are enjoying a strong period of growth across the bakery, but particularly in the dessert bar and take home market, where our individual desserts are becoming increasingly popular with caterers.
“Jo, John and Stefan’s enthusiasm and experience have been invaluable in strengthening the bakery team’s skill-set to support our expansion plans.”
