– Brand new Warrens Bakery Bridgwater opening a sell-out success –
The smell of freshly baked bread, pasties, pastries and more from the award-winning South West bakery saw huge crowds gather at the grand opening event last week, which turned out to be a sell-out success.
With queues lining up outside the door, the Mayor of Bridgwater joined locals to be the first to try the sweet and savoury bakes from the oldest Cornish pasty maker in the world.
Established in 1860, Warrens Bakery is delighted to be working in partnership with local businessman James Tucker who will be adding Warrens Bakery to his current portfolio. As a successful entrepreneur in the area, James was impressed at the stand out quality of the craft bakeries premium range, commenting: “With Warrens I know where the product comes from – something that is important to me – and I can follow its journey all the way from production to the first delicious bite. Knowing that Warrens still use the same fresh, local ingredients and hand-crafted skills for every product really sets them apart from any other bakery.”
With an overwhelmingly positive response from Bridgwater residents, the new bakery took 95% of the predicted first week of sales within the first two days of opening. With almost 600 pasties and savouries sold on the first day alone, it looks as though locals truly have an appetite for a traditional taste of the South West.
Although the new store was filled ready for hungry customers with freshly baked bread and pasties, an emergency order was placed in the first two days of opening to replenish stocks after worries that the store would run out.
The first Bridgwater customer to try the craft bakery’s infamous Cornish pasty was Katarina from CLIC Sargent who couldn’t resist the smell of pasties and a cake for her lunch and left armed with freshly baked goods for her colleagues.
2017 is quickly becoming the year of the Cornish pasty takeover, with new Warrens Bakery store openings announced each month. As well as celebrating numerous openings and franchise partnerships, the team has been raising a toast after being shortlisted as one of the top three craft bakery businesses in the country, in the Baking Industry Awards 2017.
Commenting on the opening of the new bakery, chairman of Warrens Bakery, Mark Sullivan says: “With the rise in popularity of craft bakery and British baking, we are delighted that we will be able to share our recipes and award-winning sweet and savoury bakes with even more customers in Bridgwater. We are immensely proud of our heritage and it is extremely important to us as we grow to do so with experienced and trusted partners. James is a prime example of that and, with a track record of running and launching several successful businesses in the area, we are looking forward to working with him in expanding our portfolio of stores in the region. We have big expansion plans in the region, with 20 stores over the next five years and can’t wait to build on our partnership and greet customers who may be more used to seeing our stores when holidaying down by the Cornish coast.”
Franchise Owner James Tucker adds: “I’ve been visiting Warrens stores whilst on holiday in Cornwall for as long as I can remember, so was already familiar with the brand and its premium quality before hearing about the franchise opportunity. With Bridgwater being both my home town and the base of our business, it presented the ideal opportunity for our first store. I believe there is a real gap in the market here for a premium bakery like Warrens – a store that both offers traditional, local quality and, for many in this part of the country, evokes memories of wonderful holidays to Cornwall!”
James continues: “Warrens Bakery brings a strong brand with excellent scalability to our portfolio. Scalability is something I look for in any business opportunity – in particular, the potential to take a strong, high quality and recognisable brand and expand it across our local market. Our next store will be Taunton and we are excited to grow the Warrens brand across Somerset.”
With over 150 years of baking experience, Warrens Bakery’s hard work and dedication has seen them receive a long list of accolades for their sweet bakes and pasties. In 2015, they were recognised in the prestigious Craft Business Award in the Baking Industry Awards 2015 and 2016 saw them win a haul of awards at the 2016 British Pie Awards, the World Pasty Championships and claim victory in a number of independent radio polls.
The oldest bakery in Cornwall, their range includes traditional bakes, freshly made sandwiches, savouries, scones, a recently revamped artisan bread range and more. They attribute their success not only to the provenance of their ingredients but also to their dedicated team. All of their baked goods are crafted with an enormous amount of care and attention to detail and using the finest ingredients. Many of their products are also produced to traditional recipes including their Cornish pasty, they are after all the oldest Cornish pasty maker in the world.
Visit www.warrensbakery.co.uk for further information. To hear the latest news from Warrens Bakery follow them on Twitter (@WarrensBakery) or link up with them on Facebook www.facebook.com/warrensbakery.
