The boss of a bakery hit by a devastating fire last month says it will be rebuilt bigger and better.
Village Bakery in Wrexham lost one of its four bakery sites in a .
Now managing director Robin Jones has revealed plans are under way to replace the state-of-the art production facility on Wrexham Industrial Estate.
Architects have already been engaged and they are looking at two possible options – either to rebuild on the original site or on nearby land in Ash Road which they already own and have planning permission for.
In the meantime, production has been ramped up at the family firm’s other three bakeries to maintain supplies to their customers.
Mr Jones paid tribute to the bakery’s staff and said he had been humbled by the genuine outpouring of affection from hundreds of customers who posted touching messages of support on social media.
He was also grateful for the work of firefighters and their neighbours who rallied round on the day, and praised wholesale customers and suppliers for their “immediate and unstinting” support.
Mr Jones said: “In what was our darkest hour, our brilliant team have come up trumps and showed that when the going gets tough, the tough get going.
Most Read
“We will always be grateful that nobody was hurt. That was the most important thing of all. Unlike buildings, people are irreplaceable.
“We have been amazed at everybody’s ability to go the extra mile to ensure that it is business as usual. It’s been incredible to watch people step up.
“On the night of the fire, the team in Coedpoeth and the shift in Wrexham worked a miracle to ensure we were back in production with M&S bread rolls so we were able to deliver in full on the Tuesday morning. Then on the Tuesday night we were back in business making pancakes in Coedpoeth.
“We’re now using every square inch of our remaining bakeries to maximise production.
“It’s clear our wholesale customers have been impressed with our determination to resume production so quickly. We have been honest and open with them from the outset.
“In three weeks’ time, we will be making Welsh cakes and in January we’ll be making scones again with new equipment from Holland.
“We’re moving the crumpet production to the Gluten Freedom bakery, where we are creating a new, segregated production line.
Don’t miss
“In the meantime, our priority is to ensure that we keep the skilled people we have by redeploying them where necessary, because we don’t want to lose them.
“In the aftermath of the fire, it became clear there is a genuine affection toward the Village Bakery from the people who buy and enjoy our products and we have been amazed by the response of the people of Wrexham and North Wales who have sent us so many warm wishes.
“It just makes us feel humbled by it all, really. It’s just blown us away.
“The business community in Wrexham has also been very generous in its offers of support. We’ve had offers of office accommodation, photocopiers, for air compressors, you name it.
“On the day of the fire, the local cafes and neighbours like Bicks Chicks brought down teas, coffees, soft drinks for the firefighters and for our staff. They also brought bacon butties.
“It’s only when disasters like this happen that you realise how genuine and generous people are. It also underlines what a great place Wrexham is. It’s a big-hearted town.
“Our suppliers have also been amazing. The equipment manufacturers have pulled out all the stops while everybody in the supply chain has just stepped up to the plate, and we are ever so grateful.
“There is a quiet determination here and people have got their heads down, they’re fully focused and there is no time to dwell on what happened because we have a fantastic new bakery to build.
“It’s going to be bigger and better so we can make even better products than we did before.”