Bun bonanza brings £10 million investment

2 Sisters Food Group has invested £10 million in building a new state-of-the-art bakery extension at its Gunstones Bakery site in Dronfield, near Sheffield.

Planning for the project has been ongoing for 18 months in order to fulfil customer demand for increased volumes of fresh hot cross buns.

The new facility will provide 25% additional capacity to the site and will focus on producing hot cross buns and iced and spiced products, allowing the business to grow in key categories. The new line – called ‘Bake 4’, will eventually be producing up to six different products in a day once it is fully commissioned.

Kirk Connor, Gunstones Site Director, said: “This is a fantastic facility for Gunstones Bakery and has helped protect jobs in the local community.

“We’re well known for baking some of the best products in the business, and this new facility will only enhance that reputation. We’re really delighted to have got this on track and show our customers and our employees that we mean business.”

Local MP Natascha Engel , the Member of Parliament for North East Derbyshire, added: “I was very impressed with the new facility and hope that this will bring in more contracts for Gunstones Bakery.”

The new facility is a refurbished warehouse building on the site which has been stripped down to the metal frame and started again. Environmental impacts were managed carefully with regular meetings with the council and local residents.

Leading edge equipment, including ovens and proofers from Italy, will enable the line to work to the highest possible standards.

Skilled workers have been redeployed from the Chilled foods area side of the business at Gunstones and new staff have been recruited, providing employment for 100 local people, with around 1,000 on site in total.

Pictured is Suhayl Khan, a multi-skilled operative and stand in cell leader at Gunstones Bakery.