An award-winning West Yorkshire bakery, have announced plans to expand their premises to support their continued business growth.
Just Desserts, based in Shipley, have invested more than £150,000 in the expansion project, which includes plans to future proof the bakery, as well as new bakery equipment and a larger freezer to increase storage capacity.
The newly extended bakery, which is due to be completed in January 2020, will also create new roles for the business in operations and warehousing.
The bakery, which expanded into Unit 3 in 2015, has added Unit 4 on Station Road and plans to transform the site with new offices and staff facilities, demolishing the existing offices and staffroom to further extend the bakery footprint and freezer space by more than 60%. The works will also include a mezzanine floor to house a meeting room.
Just Desserts was founded on a £40-a-week enterprise allowance more than 30 years ago by husband and wife team James and Carol O’Dwyer. The business has evolved from James baking cakes in a single unit to a dedicated team producing a product range of more than 100 different lines. Crowned as the ‘Northern Craft Bakery of the Year’ in 2018, the company now employs more than 30 staff and operates a fleet of delivery vans serving a growing foodservice and hospitality customer base across the North of England and the Midlands.
Managing Director James O’Dwyer said: “We’re delighted to appoint the team at Bray Building Services to implement our bakery expansion plans. They have built a great reputation both in their local area and in West Yorkshire and we were impressed with their professionalism, design approach and bespoke service offer.
“We are excited to be able to support our 5 year growth strategy to deliver a future proofed bakery, as well as look after the health and wellbeing of our growing and loyal team with new staff facilities. The larger layout and working space of the extended bakery will improve efficiencies, productivity, workflow and capacity to deliver our handcrafted products to a growing customer base.
“We are already working towards developing new vegan and low sugar products to support our strategy to target new and existing markets and the new bakery will help us realise our ambitions.”
For more information on Just Desserts and their range of award-winning products visit www.just-desserts.co.uk