Warrens Bakery is a company based in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

in the United Kingdom, which claims to be Britain's oldest

Cornish pasty A pasty () is a British baked pastry, a traditional variety of which is particularly associated with Cornwall, South West England, but has spread all over the British Isles. It is made by placing an uncooked filling, typically meat and vegetab ...

maker, having been established in St Just in 1860. The company produces baked goods which are sold through its chain of shops and through wholesale channels. In December 2019, Warrens Bakery Limited agreed a

company voluntary arrangement Under UK insolvency law an insolvent company can enter into a company voluntary arrangement (CVA). The CVA is a form of composition, similar to the personal IVA ( individual voluntary arrangement), where an insolvency procedure allows a company ...

with its suppliers and landlords.

History

Previously a family-owned business, in 2012 it became a

limited company In a limited company, the liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by Share (finance), shares or by guarantee. In a company limited by ...

having attracted outside investors including current chairman Mark Sullivan, following a period in which "competition from rival companies had affected the business". Between March and October 2012, the business closed five stores and a

wholesale Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In ...

unit, and made 12 members of staff redundant. In January 2015, the bakery received £1.6 million in funding from

Santander UK Santander UK plc (, ) is a British bank, wholly owned by the Spanish Santander Group. Santander UK plc manages its affairs autonomously, with its own local management team, responsible solely for its performance. Santander UK is one of the le ...

's Breakthrough Programme, in order to finance the refurbishment and rebranding of existing shops and the expansion of its retail activities. The company obtained a loan of £250,000 from

Cornwall Council Cornwall Council ( kw, Konsel Kernow) is the unitary authority for Cornwall in the United Kingdom, not including the Isles of Scilly, which has its own unitary council. The council, and its predecessor Cornwall County Council, has a tradition o ...

, to be repaid by April 2021. In the year to 30 June 2018, despite an increase in turnover, the company made a before-tax loss of £915,000 which was attributed to the trading environment, increases in ingredient costs and the start-up costs of several new retail stores. Net current liabilities were £1.5m and there were 574 employees. Further redundancies followed in 2019. In July, 66 production and distribution jobs were put at risk at the St Just and

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

sites. In November, the company announced the closure of the St Just site – occupied since the 1970s – and 20 stores, including reversal of an expansion into

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

. By the end of the year, the workforce had fallen to around 350. The shop in Mere Green in the West Midlands, which had opened in 2017 and was the only shop outside the South West, also closed in 2019. Following a meeting of creditors in December 2019, the company entered a company voluntary arrangement – a type of insolvency.

Structure and operations

, Warrens is the largest chain of bakeries in

South West England South West England, or the South West of England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of the counties of Bristol, Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly), Dorset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. Cities and ...

, with 44 shops, mostly in Cornwall,

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

and

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

. It also sells products online and through other retailers via its wholesale brand, Simply Cornish. Since a reorganisation in June 2016, the company has been a subsidiary of Provenance Brands Limited, alongside Cornish Sea Salt Company Limited. Provenance also owns Warrens Bakery Franchise Limited, which manages franchised outlets and in 2018 was said to have "several hundred stores in the pipeline".

Controversy

The chain describes itself as the "oldest Cornish pasty maker in the world", claiming that it has "served the public proudly since 1860". This claim was challenged as misleading in a case brought to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). In December 2014, the ASA ruled in favour of Warrens. While documents provided by the bakery "were not sufficient to confirm, with absolute certainty, that a bakery owned by William Harvey had been established at 8 Queen Street in 1860", according to the ASA they did prove "that the shop had been in existence since 1873".

References

External links

* {{Official website Companies based in Cornwall Cornish cuisine Bakeries of the United Kingdom Fast-food chains of the United Kingdom