GROWING SHIPLEY BAKERY ENJOYS ROYAL VISIT

GROWING SHIPLEY BAKERY ENJOYS ROYAL VISIT

West Yorkshire family-run bakery, Just Desserts, welcomed a VIP guest today, Monday 15 July, when HRH Princess Anne, the Princess Royal visited the growing Shipley bakery as part of her tour of the region.  James O’Dwyer, managing director at Just Desserts escorted the Princess Royal around the bakery to celebrate the company’s continuing success and plans to expand further into Unit 4 on Station Road.  

The bakery, which expanded into Unit 3 in 2016, now adds Unit 4 on Station Road with plans to build new offices and staff facilities, demolishing the existing offices and staffroom to further extend its bakery floorspace and freezer space, increasing capacity by around 50%.  The bakery has enjoyed a 38% increase in like for like sales against last year, with a particular boost on selected individual size product lines.

During the visit, the Princess Royal met the team and saw how the baker’s handcraft some of its popular products, including Yorkshire Scoundrels, Raspberry Franzipans and Lotus Biscoff® Cheesecakes, as well as seeing a demonstration on how to ice a Chocolate Fudge cake.

After a reception for family members, customers, suppliers and VIP guests, The Princess Royal unveiled a commemorative plaque to mark her visit.  Annie Los aged 5 and Maia Hodgson aged 8, granddaughters of James and his wife Carol presented the Princess Royal with a bouquet of flowers and a presentation box of fresh Scoundrels and Raspberry Franzipans.

Just Desserts was founded on a £40-a-week enterprise allowance more than 30 years ago by man and wife team James and Carol O’Dwyer.  The business has evolved from James baking cakes in a unit in Salt’s Mill to 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 25 staff and operates a fleet of delivery vans serving a growing foodservice and hospitality customer base across the North of England and the Midlands.

James O’Dwyer, MD, Just Desserts commented:

“It was an absolute honour to welcome the Princess Royal to visit our bakery today.  We are incredibly proud to build our growing business with plans to further expand into another Unit on Station Road.  It really is the Royal icing on the cake to show HRH Princess Anne just how we’ve developed from a start-up enterprise more than 30 years ago to employing more than 25 people, serving a growing customer base in and beyond the region.”