Warburtons facts for kids
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| Private | |
| Industry | Baking |
| Founded | 1876 |
| Founder | Thomas Warburton |
| Headquarters | Bolton, Greater Manchester, England |
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Key people
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Jonathan Warburton (Chairman) |
| Products | Bread and other bakery goods |
| Revenue | £574.4 million |
| Owner |
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Number of employees
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Over 5000 |
| Parent | Warburtons Holdings Limited |
Warburtons Limited is a well-known British company that bakes bread and other tasty treats. It was started by Thomas Warburton way back in 1876. The company's main home is in Bolton, a town in Greater Manchester, England.
For many years, Warburtons only had bakeries in the Lancashire area. But it has always been a family-owned business. As of 2018, Warburtons has 12 bakeries and 14 depots across the UK. They also employ more than 4,500 people!
In the late 1990s and 2000s, Warburtons started to grow a lot. They expanded across the whole United Kingdom. Before this, not many people outside the North West knew about them. By 2010, Warburtons made 24% of all the bread sold in the UK. This was a big jump from just 2% when they were only in Bolton.
By 2012, Warburtons became the most popular bread brand in the UK. They were even more popular than other big names like Kingsmill and Hovis. In fact, up until 2010, Warburtons products were the second-best selling food and drink brand in the UK. Only Coca-Cola sold more! They were ahead of popular brands like Cadbury's chocolate and Walker's crisps.
Contents
The History of Warburtons
How the Company Started
The story of Warburtons began in 1876. That's when Ellen and Thomas Warburton bought a small grocery shop in Bolton. Their business quickly grew. Thomas's nephew, Henry, joined the company when he was 16. He became a very skilled baker by the time he was 25.
Henry helped the business expand even more. The bakery moved four times in 25 years to bigger locations. The last move was to the Back o'th' Bank Bakery, which Rachael Warburton opened in July 1915. Henry Warburton also became involved in his local community. He even became the mayor of Bolton! Henry Warburton passed away in 1936.
Over the years, Warburtons continued to grow by buying smaller baking companies in the North West of England.
Growing Across the UK
For a long time, all of Warburtons' bread was made only in Bolton. This meant that bread sometimes lost its freshness during long journeys to places outside the North West. But big supermarkets like Tesco, Asda, and Sainsbury's wanted to sell Warburtons bread all over the country.
So, in the late 1990s, the company decided to build new bakeries. They opened new plants in places like Eastwood in Nottinghamshire, Bellshill in Scotland, and Wednesbury in England. Warburtons started selling in Scotland in 1996. By 2003, they made 32% of all the bread sold in Scotland!
Becoming a National Brand
In October 2003, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh officially opened Warburtons' eleventh bakery. This new bakery was in Enfield, North London. In 2004, Warburtons made even more bread in Scotland by finishing the second phase of their Bellshill bakery.
In 2005, Warburtons bought two more bakeries. One was in Stockton-on-Tees and the other in Rogerstone near Newport. In March 2006, a huge new bakery opened in Normanton, West Yorkshire. It cost £60 million and was said to be the largest bakery in Europe! Other bakeries outside the Lancashire area include one in Newburn near Newcastle upon Tyne.
In 2010, the company decided to close its Newport facility. However, they kept a distribution center at Port Talbot to continue serving South Wales. The bread production was moved to a new plant in Bristol.
In 2013, the Daily Mirror newspaper named Warburtons as Britain's most loved shopping brand. It was even more popular than Coca-Cola, Heinz, and Cadbury!
Famous Advertisements
Warburtons has used many famous people in their advertising campaigns.
- In 2015, they featured actor Sylvester Stallone. He acted out parts from his famous movies in the advert.
- Another advert showed The Muppets singing about Warburtons' new giant crumpets. The song was very similar to the opening theme of The Muppet Show.
- Comedian Peter Kay also appeared in an advert, playing on the company's connection to Bolton.
- In May 2019, actor Robert De Niro appeared in an advert for Warburtons bagels.
- In 2021, George Clooney was in a TV advert alongside Jonathan Warburton, the company's chairman.
- In 2023, Samuel L. Jackson played Jonathan Warburton in an advert for the Warburtons Toastie loaf.
In March 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, some smaller shops criticized Warburtons. They felt the company was sending more deliveries to bigger supermarkets first. Warburtons explained they were trying their best to keep up with very high demand.
In January 2023, the supermarket Waitrose announced they had stopped selling Warburtons products. This happened the previous year because of a business disagreement. Waitrose said Warburtons' performance "didn’t meet our expectations."
Warburtons Products
Warburtons makes many different types of baked goods. They have five main categories of products:
- Bread
- Rolls
- Bakery Snacks (like crumpets and potato cakes)
- Gluten Free products
- Weight Watchers products
Some of Warburtons' most popular products include their Toastie loaf, which comes in an orange wrapper. They also have the Medium loaf in a blue wrapper and the Thickest loaf in a green wrapper. All of these are wrapped in special wax paper to keep them fresh.
