Banton, who joined the business in 2022 as operations director, will replace Bill Thurston who has taken on the role of CEO.
Over the past year Banton has played an important role in helping the business recover following a devastating fire at its Northwich site in June 2023. The bakery has since been rebuilt, while she also managed the opening of a new production facility in Winsford.
With more than 27 years of experience in the food industry, Banton has worked in senior roles at firms including Northern Foods, Nestle and The Kraft Heinz Company in the UK and overseas.
Meanwhile, Thurston will be tasked with shaping the overall strategic direction of the business as CEO.
He was appointed as managing director in November 2022, a move that coincided with the baker securing an £18m cash injection courtesy of an asset-based lending facility provided by Wells Fargo.
In its most recent financial results up to August 2023, Roberts Bakery reported a turnover of £96m and sales growth of 8%. Employing more than 700 people, it operates three sites in Northwich, Derbyshire and Winsford.
“I want to share my expertise and best-in-class practices I have learnt throughout my career and continue to deliver them into the Roberts family business,” Banton said of the promotion.
“Roberts is proud to be a fourth generation family-owned business, with over 130 years of baking heritage. This year, as we embark on our biggest ever fully integrated £1.5m marketing campaign, we want to build on our core USPs; our heritage and our quality of products.”
Commenting on the investment into the Northwich site in the aftermath of the fire, Banton added: “We have been through a tough time over the past 15 months but we can now see the light at the end of the tunnel. Our employees have been phenomenal in adapting their ways of working to continue to deliver our products to our customers. Throughout the process we have managed to retain our headcount, retaining the years of baking expertise within the Roberts business. I feel honoured to have the opportunity to lead the Roberts team.”
Looking to the future, she laid out a vision centred on driving growth and market share within the firm’s “heartland region”.
“Our customers have been very loyal to us and we look forward to developing those relationships further with supply of our core bestselling lines as well as some exciting product innovation,” continued Banton.
“Despite the rebuild, our teams have been busy in the background developing new products including; Tiger loaves and Rolls, a range of healthier breads with grains and seeds as well as returning some of our favourite products which have been out of production. We are excited for the next chapter of growth for Roberts, as we look to growing our distribution points and listings in the near future.”
