Village Bakery has appointed Jac Griffiths to lead the launch of a new £28 million bakery on the site of its former flagship facility in Wrexham, which was destroyed by fire in August 2019.
Griffiths, 31, joined the company at 17 in what was intended to be a temporary summer job. Twelve years later, he has been chosen to head the new facility and bring its automated production line into operation.
The bakery has been created by converting a storage building and installing a state-of-the-art line across two floors. It is due to begin production later this summer and is expected to support the creation of 100 jobs across the group’s sites.
From temporary job to bakery manager
Griffiths started as an operator at the company’s Minera bakery before joining Village Bakery’s apprenticeship scheme.
He progressed through supervisory and new product development roles, later managing the gluten-free bakery and then the main bakery on Ash Road, Wrexham Industrial Estate.
His appointment reflects Village Bakery’s emphasis on developing staff from within the business. Griffiths said leading the new bakery was the proudest moment of his career.
A new bakery after the 2019 fire
The former flagship bakery was destroyed in a major fire on 19 August 2019. Griffiths was working at the nearby gluten-free site when the blaze began.
The replacement facility includes a mezzanine level and an automated production line installed across two floors. The company says the equipment has been configured to produce a range of new products.
Village Bakery chief executive Simon Thorpe described the project as a major milestone in the company’s recovery from the fire.
Investment and jobs in Wrexham
Since the fire, Village Bakery says it has invested £115 million and created 700 jobs, taking employment across the business to more than 1,000 people.
The new £28 million bakery is expected to add further production capacity and enable the creation of 100 jobs across the wider group.
For the Wrexham food manufacturing sector, the appointment brings together two parts of the same story: investment in modern production and long-term development of local employees.
Sources
Nation.Cymru – Rising star who joined bakery at 17 chosen to lead £28m comeback.
