A bakery that was destroyed by fire will be rebuilt bigger and better than it was,\u00a0 a company boss has vowed.<\/p>\n
Robin Jones, the managing director of the award-winning Village Bakery, revealed plans were underway to replace the state-of-the art production facility on Wrexham Industrial Estate following the devastating blaze four weeks ago.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, production has been ramped up at the family firm\u2019s other three bakeries to maintain supplies to their customers.<\/p>\n
Mr Jones paid tribute to the bakery\u2019s staff who had responded magnificently in helping them bounce back from the disaster.<\/p>\n
According to Mr Jones, they had been humbled by the genuine outpouring of affection from hundreds of customers who posted touching messages of support on social media.<\/p>\n
He was also grateful for the backing of their wholesale customers and their suppliers whose support had been \u201cimmediate and unstinting\u201d.<\/p>\n
On the day of the fire, their neighbours on the industrial estate had also rallied round with hot and cold drinks and bacon butties, for the Village Bakery staff and the fire service who had responded promptly and been excellent from the word go.<\/p>\n
Mr Jones said: \u201cIn what was our darkest hour, our brilliant team have come up trumps and showed that when the going gets tough, the tough get going.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will always be grateful that nobody was hurt. That was the most important thing of all. Unlike buildings, people are irreplaceable.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have been amazed at everybody\u2019s ability to go the extra mile to ensure that it is business as usual. It\u2019s been incredible to watch people step up.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen on the Tuesday night we were back in business making pancakes in Coedpoeth.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re now using every square inch of our remaining bakeries to maximise production.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn three weeks\u2019 time, we will be making Welsh cakes and\u00a0 in January we\u2019ll be making scones again with new equipment from Holland.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re moving the crumpet production to the Gluten Freedom bakery where we are creating a new, segregated production line.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the meantime, our priority is to ensure that we keep the skilled people we have by redeploying them where necessary because we don\u2019t want to lose them.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 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, and it\u2019s just blown us away.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe business community in Wrexham has also been very generous in its offers of support. We\u2019ve had offers of office accommodation, photocopiers, for air compressors, you name it.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the day of the fire the local cafes and\u00a0 neighbours like Bicks Chicks brought down teas, coffees, soft drinks for the fire fighters and for our staff.\u00a0 They also brought bacon butties.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s 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\u2019s a big-hearted town.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a quiet determination here and people have got their heads down, they\u2019re fully focused and there is no time to dwell on what happened because we have a fantastic new bakery to build.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be bigger and better so we can make even better products than we did before.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have the full support of our insurance company and the new bakery will be up and running in record time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe feedback from our customers has been hugely positive and they have told us that our mitigation plan to overcome this disaster is the best they have ever seen.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve always said that the people who work for the Village Bakery are the secret ingredient in our success.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why I am totally confident that we will rise from the ashes and become even stronger and more successful in future.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was a sentiment echoed by his father, the company chairman Alan Jones, who said: \u201cIn a situation like this you\u2019ve got to look at the positives because that bakery was 10 years old and, whilst the equipment was state-of-the-art at the time,\u00a0 the progress that\u2019s been made since then has been phenomenal.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have ordered three new lines which are a big improvement on what we had so there\u2019s no doubt we\u2019ll come out of it stronger and better.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you\u2019re only as good as the people who work for you. That will never change and we are blessed with a team of fantastic staff.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bakery manager Rob Glover was in work when the fire started.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cThe alarms went off and I went to try to extinguish the fire but unfortunately it took hold very quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe made sure everybody got out because that was our immediate priority and then the fire brigade took over.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was very sad but we didn\u2019t dwell on things and we have moved our staff to different bakeries to resume production. We\u2019ve got loads of plans to come back bigger and better than we were before. There\u2019s a real determination here, everybody is up for the challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n
Florence\u00a0 Roberts, who works in the new product development department, was in the test kitchen when the alarm went off.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cIt was horrific to stand and watch the fire but what amazed me was how quickly thoughts turned to the future and how to get out of this predicament.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnybody who knows Robin and his brother Christien, who\u2019s the projects director,\u00a0 knows that\u2019s quite typical of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re so forward-thinking all the time and something like this was never going to defeat them.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone is very loyal and close-knit here so as soon as something like this happens everyone is working twice as hard to make sure we can get back to normality.\u201d<\/p>\n