The past year has produced plenty to celebrate for our industry, with strong investment in production equipment, moves to propagate the next generation of bakers and, to cap it all, the best British wheat harvest on record. British Baker looks back over the top 10 successes of the year.

Good YearThe past year has produced plenty to celebrate for our industry, with strong investment in production equipment, moves to propagate the next generation of bakers and, to cap it all, the best British wheat harvest on record. British Baker looks back over the top 10 successes of the yearApprenticeships - Fiona Kendrick, president of the Food and Drink Federation (FDF), pledged to triple apprenticeships in the food and drink industry by 2020. This came on top of Greenhalgh’s Craft Bakery pledging to take on 12 apprentices a yearoriginaldate 1/1/0001 6:00:00 AMwidth 550height 350The Bread Factory - On top of reporting 25% revenue growth from £36.1m to £45.1m for the year ending 28 February 2015, The Bread Factory entered into a partnership with gluten-free foodservice company Wild Thexton and bought retail bakery Bread Rollflash 9cameramake Canonheight 350orientation 1camerasoftware GIMP 2.8.14originaldate 8/2/2013 3:16:00 PMwidth 550cameramodel Canon EOS 5D Mark IIBritish Baker - Not only did British Baker fight the good fight for bread by taking its #WeLoveBread campaign all the way to 10 Downing Street, it also successfully launched its Christmas Stars awards to find the very best in festive producecameramake Canonheight 350orientation 1flash 16originaldate 2/6/2015 5:15:17 PMwidth 550cameramodel Canon EOS 700DBritish Wheat - British wheat had a great year, delivering the largest harvest on record at an estimated 16.68 million tonnes despite a reported decrease in the area plantedoriginaldate 1/1/0001 6:00:00 AMheight 350width 550orientation 1camerasoftware GIMP 2.8.14Délifrance UK - Délifrance UK announced a £30m investment in its London bakery, including a state-of-the-art stone-baked bread line. The first in the UK to use robotic scarification, it allows the company to produce large-scale ranges of rustic breadflash 15cameramake NIKON CORPORATIONheight 350orientation 1camerasoftware GIMP 2.8.14originaldate 10/2/2015 4:12:39 PMwidth 550cameramodel NIKON D700Finsbury Foods - Finsbury Foods exceeded expectations as revenues grew 45.8% to £256.2m for the year to 27 June 2015. The company also bought of foodservice cake maker Johnstone’s Just Desserts from administratorsoriginaldate 1/1/0001 6:00:00 AMwidth 550height 350Irwin’s - Irwin’s Bakery had a strong year of revamps and expansions, including rebranding and expanding its sweet Howell’s Homemade range and expanding its Softee bread range. The bakery said it expected turnover to hit £40m in the next five yearsoriginaldate 1/1/0001 6:00:00 AMwidth 550height 350Organic Food - The Soil Association reported a 4% growth in the sale of organic products, including a 4.2% growth in organic cereals and a 7.2% growth in organic biscuitsoriginaldate 1/1/0001 6:00:00 AMwidth 550height 350Roberts Bakery - Roberts Bakery opened a £2m-plus upgrade of the former Aldreds the Bakers bakery in Derbyshire in October. This came on top of the bakery launching its first TV advertising campaign, promoting its white bread as “soft and fluffy”originaldate 1/1/0001 6:00:00 AMwidth 550height 350Warburtons - Warburtons had a great year, opening a £20m sandwich alternatives plant in Burnley and launching its Giant Crumpets with a help from The Muppets. The Muppets campaign was crowned best Christmas advert by market researchers Millward Brownoriginaldate 1/1/0001 6:00:00 AMwidth 550height 350

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