Morrisons has chosen to close its loss-making Rathbones bakery site following the UK supermarket’s restructuring of the business last year.
Rathbones, based in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, has been under review for closure since late 2024 but a decision was taken in January last year to scale back the bakery plant and keep it open.
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At the time, the grocer said 270 of the 378 workers had accepted voluntary redundancy, leaving around 138 staff as Morrisons set a goal for Rathbones to reach “breakeven” in 2027. However, a decision has been taken early.
“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,” a spokesperson for Morrisons’ manufacturing arm Myton Food Group said today (7 January) in a statement.
Myton runs the Rathbones site, which produces specialist bakery products for the retailer, including naan and pitta breads, crumpets, pancakes, hot cross buns, and muffins.
Morrisons does bake other bakery items inhouse under its Market Street brand, including cakes, muffins and doughnuts.
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By GlobalData“Since the restructuring of the Rathbones business in early 2025 the team have been working hard to try and build a future for the business as a smaller, more focused supplier of specialist bakery products,” the spokesperson added.
Pressures in the UK bakery market, rising costs and the loss of a key customer were cited as the reasons behind the decision to shutter the plant following the 2025 downsizing.
“Since then, the trading conditions in the bakery market have become even more challenging and despite a tremendous effort by the whole team to develop new markets, volumes and sales have declined significantly, exacerbated by the loss of a large third-party customer, with cost increases and the return of inflation also having a significant impact on the competitiveness of the business,” the spokesperson explained.
“As a result, the sales performance has fallen well below that envisaged by the recovery plan, with the business continuing to report significant losses.”
Myton was unable to confirm when the bakery will close its doors due to an ongoing consultation process with workers but said 115 employees are “at risk” of redundancy.
The company said it will seek to find alternative opportunities within the group, which is “reviewing options” for what to do with the Wakefield bakery.
Another UK business, Roberts Bakery, also attributed job cuts last year to “unprecedented challenges” in the country’s bread market.
Later in the year, the company was rescued from the brink of administration by the owner of 2 Sisters Food Group – Ranjit Singh Boparan.
Roberts Bakery had also cited “exceptionally difficult” challenges for its decision to file for administration, including inflation pressures, rising energy and ingredients costs, and competition from its peers.
