Baker to create 100 jobs with new Corby base

Planning permission has been granted for Hull-based Jacksons – which currently makes about two million loaves a week – to build a bakery on the old Golden West Foods site in Genner Road.

The £40m state-of-the-art bakery, designed specifically to make sandwich bread for sandwich makers, will be built on a 10-acre site which was purchased by the business in February this year.

Managing director Simon Ball said: “The new bakery will help us grow as a business and allow us to build on the great work we do in Hull.

“We have a brilliant team working on the expansion project, and there’s a real buzz of excitement right across our business as we have the opportunity to create something really special which will be at the forefront of bread-making in the UK.

“Corby provides us with an excellent base and we can’t wait to start recruiting new colleagues and see our new facility up and running next summer.”

The facility is expected to be open by late summer, and details on how to apply for jobs there will be made available next year.

More jobs could be made available further down the line if the site expands.

Jacksons, which has baked bread on the same site in Hull since 1907, is part of the family-owned William Jackson Food Group, which also owns Aunt Bessie’s, Abel & Cole, MyFresh and The Food Doctor.

As well as making 70 per cent of the bread used in UK prepared sandwiches, the business makes branded bread for sale in UK supermarkets – Jackson’s Yorkshire’s Champion – which has grown every year since its launch in 2012.

Jackson’s Yorkshire’s Champion is sold across the country at big-name supermarkets including Waitrose, Tesco and Morrisons.

The brand will continue to be produced at the Hull bakery, remaining true to its Yorkshire values, with the Corby base acting as an extension.

Chief executive officer of William Jackson Food Group Norman Soutar said: “The group and its family shareholders have invested significantly in the Hull bakery over recent years, and indeed continue to invest in the Hull site.

“We take a long-term approach to the individual businesses in the group, allowing them time to grow and develop and we’re very much looking forward to seeing how the next chapter of the bakery’s life unfolds.”

When the site opens there will be 75 car parking spaces, with an additional 59 spaces coming in a second phase.