Historic bakery to disappear from supermarket chain risking 115 jobs

A 100-year-old bakery brand will disappear from supermarket shelves soon, risking more than 100 jobs.

Morrisons has announced it will close the Rathbones Bakery site in Wakefield, putting 115 jobs at risk.

The bakery, founded in 1893, will be shut down after facing the threat of closure for a second time in two years.

The facility was on the brink of closure in November 2024, but the supermarket chain opted to keep the site open on a reduced scale following a restructure.

The bakery turned its focus from sliced white bread to specialist products such as pittas, crumpets, pancakes and rolls.

The restructuring 13 months ago led to 270 job losses, in which staff accepted voluntary redundancy.

Rathbones Bakery was expected to break even by 2027, the Grocer reported.

The bakery made profits in the year to October 2024, reversing a £2.2m loss, but Morrisons said it took ‘tremendous’ efforts to grow the site, despite the business continuing to operate at a loss.

The decision also comes after Morrisons’s manufacturing arm, Myton Foods, which runs the site, lost a third-party contract for the bakery last year, the supermarket said.

A Morrisons spokesperson told Grocer: ‘Regrettably, having thoroughly reviewed all alternatives, we can no longer see a way back to breakeven and have taken the difficult decision to close the remaining facility.

‘This proposal does unfortunately mean colleagues at the site are at risk of redundancy.

‘We are, however, fully committed to doing everything we can to help all those affected, including identifying any other suitable roles available elsewhere in the Myton Group.’

The British supermarket giant will explore options to sell or repurpose the facility, as the future of the 28,000 sq ft site is yet to be decided.

For shoppers, Morrisons’ in-store bakeries will not be impacted by the closure.

Morrisons saved Rathbones Bakery from falling into administration in 2005.

However, the bakery brand is not the only company that has faced hard times.

Several high street shops have announced permanent closures in 2026, as more and more brands make the move to online shopping.

River Island said it plans to close all shops in January, previously announcing it would shut 33 stores by the end of the month.

Poundland was sold by its former parent company Pepco Group to Gordon Brothers last year to save it from administration, but announced closures for the new year.

Meanwhile, Primark surprised customers after it said it would be closing one of its stores – the first closure in a decade.

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