Wrexham man lands dream job at Village Bakery's new super bakery

Ashley Dawson, 30, has been appointed as the manager of The Village Bakery’s new super bakery on Wrexham Industrial Estate that’s due to open this summer.

The promotion comes six years after the former Ysgol Morgan Llwyd student joined the Village Bakery as the company's business sustainability and improvement executive when he masterminded a series of energy and water saving initiatives to make the company more environmentally friendly.

It was recently announced The Village Bakery has secured an investment deal to fuel major expansion plans which will create 115 new jobs.

The new bakery on Ash Road has been designed and built with growth in mind and at 140,000 sq feet is more than three times the size of the one it’s replacing following a devastating fire in August 2019.

An artist’s impression of what the Village Bakery's new super bakery based on Wrexham Industrial Estate will look like once complete.

As well as housing the company’s headquarters, the new premises will also be home to their pioneering Baking Academy and Innovation Centre – both twice the size of the original versions – to train a new generation of bakers and develop new products.

Ashley, who comes from Wrexham, said: “I am incredibly proud and excited to be given this opportunity. It is a massive privilege.

“The new bakery will be awesome. It is going to be jam packed with the best possible equipment which we have sourced from around the world.

“Allied to that we will be using the best ingredients and our skills as craft bakers to make the finest products on the market in the volumes that our growing customer base needs.

He added: "The Village Bakery has a ‘grow-your-own’ tradition of rewarding people who work hard. The vast majority of the supervisors and bakery managers started out as apprentices.

“We’ve got a very keen eye for the right type of people, people who are hardworking, who can also work smart and if that’s you, then you’ll do really well here.

“The three bakery managers all started from the bottom and worked their way up. I think that’s the best way you then know the business inside out because you’ve done every single role.”

Florence Roberts, Ashley Dawson, Robin Jones, managing director and Andrew Taylor, chairman

Another homegrown high-flyer who’s been given a promotion is Florence Roberts, who has been appointed as the Group New Product Development (NPD) Manager.

Florence, or Floss as she’s known, joined the Village Bakery straight from the University of Chester where she graduated with a master’s degree in health and nutrition.

The 29-year-old, who hails originally from Oswestry and now lives near Shrewsbury, worked as an assistant in the NPD when she first came.

Most recently she has been working to develop new products for the company’s gluten-free bakery, Gluten Freedom.

She said: “The main thing about working at the Village Bakery is that you never get bored. It’s fast-paced and every day is different.

“We can make things happen really quickly and our customers love that about us.

“I’m really thankful to the Village Bakery. I don’t think there are many other companies that I could have gone to and progressed to where I am now. I’ve been really well looked after."

Managing director Robin Jones said: “The great thing about Ash is that he’s seen the opportunity and grabbed it with both hands.

“He’s a local lad and he’s chosen his career with us and I think we’ve reciprocated by giving him the opportunity and to give him our flagship bakery at the age of 30, that’s tremendous.“We’re very proud of what he has achieved so far but the best is yet to come when he’s running one of the largest craft bakeries in the UK which will also be one of the most modern in Europe. It’s a huge accolade and that’s down to his grit and determination.

“Floss is the same. I’ve taken great pleasure in watching Floss blossom and develop, from her initial role as a spec writer to an NPD Manager to now Group NPD Manager."