| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Baking |
| Founded | 1876 |
| Headquarters | Bolton, England, UK |
Key people | Jonathan Warburton, Chairman |
| Products | Bread and other bakery goods |
| Revenue | £514m (2006) |
Number of employees | 3,300 |
| Website | warburtons.co.uk |
Warburtons baking firm based in Bolton, England. It is the UK's third largest bread manufacturer after Allied Bakeries and RHM (British Bakeries), producing one million own-brand bakery products per day.[1]
Married couple Ellen and Thomas Warburton in 1876 purchased a small grocery shop in Bolton. The business grew and Thomas's nephew Henry joined the business at 16. Henry was a skilled baker by the age of 25. New technology drove the business forward and Henry continued to expand the business. The location of the bakery was moved 4 times in 25 years finishing with the opening of Back o'th' Bank Bakery in 1915, opened by Rachael Warburton in July 1915. Henry became involved in local affairs within the community and stood as a Liberal candidate.He also became mayor of Bolton. Henry Warburton died in 1936.
Warburtons grew with the purchase of several smaller companies in the North West of England. The firm continued to expand and the 1990s saw the construction of new bakeries at Eastwood in Nottinghamshire, Bellshill and Wednesbury. In October 2003, HRH the Duke of Edinburgh opened Warburtons eleventh bakery in Enfield, North London. In 2004, Warburtons increased production in Scotland with completion of Bellshill, phase two. Rathbones Bakeries, based in Walsall, went into administration in April 2005, and Warburtons bought a bakery at Stockton-on-Tees just off the A66 near Preston-on-Tees in January 2005, and another bakery at Rogerstone near the A467 at Newport in November 2005. A new £60m 12-acre (49,000 m2) super bakery in Normanton, West Yorkshire opened in March 2006, the largest bakery in Europe. Other bakeries outside of the Lancashire area are in Newburn for Newcastle-upon-Tyne next to the A6085 and River Tyne.
Due to over-expansion, among various reductions in production in 2010, they announced the closure of their Newport facility and a virtual-withdrawl from the South Wales market by consolidating to an existing plant in Bristol. The lease on the Newport plant was later ceeded to Brace's Bakery.[2]
The 'official' Bread World Cup in 2006 saw Warburton's Toastie Bread in the final, and winning the World Cup itself after seeing off over 32 other varieties in a straight knock out competition.
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