55 new jobs created at Welsh Bakery

The South Wales bakery – which trades under The Welsh Pantry brand – exceeded its original plan to create 34 jobs and safeguard 10 existing roles.

The fund is a non-repayable grant fund aimed at encouraging businesses to invest in capital expenditure which will create and or safeguard employment in Wales.

Cabinet secretary for economy and infrastructure Ken Skates praised the company’s expansion and said it would “broaden its capabilities and create significant number of jobs”.

“The company’s investment and success also has a significant wider impact on the economy,” said Skates.

100 local businesses

“Welsh Pantry’s policy of buying locally whenever possible means it regularly purchases from more than 100 local businesses. Last year it spent in excess of £3.2M with its local supply chain.”

Winning Blend group finance director Mark Sommers said the Welsh government’s investment has allowed the company to retain existing business and win new business from existing customers.

“Support from the Welsh government was pivotal in enabling us to expand when we need to as these opportunities could have been lost,” said Sommers.

Launched 22 new products

He also said that the company was able to launch 22 new products, which he claimed to have been well received.

The Llantrisant-based bakery was also awarded £300,000 by the Economic Growth Fund in 2013, which allowed the bakery firm to create 34 new jobs.

Winning Blend’s turnover rose to £18M in the 12 months to January 2016. This was forecast to grow by £2M by the end of this year, according to Sommers.

Winning Blend specialises in producing savoury products and ready meals and its Welsh Pantry label products are available in Morrisons, Sainsbury and Tesco stores nationwide. The firm also produces own-label products for Iceland, Asda, Aldi and Lidl.

The bakery manufactures 64 different products, producing about 95M items a year.