British baking firm founded by Thomas Warburton in 1876
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Warburtons Limited
Company type
Private
Industry
Baking
Founded
1876 (148 years ago) (1876)
Founder
Thomas Warburton
Headquarters
Bolton, Greater Manchester, England
Key people
Jonathan Warburton (Chairman)
Products
Bread and other bakery goods
Revenue
£574.4 million
Owner
Jonathan Warburton
Brett Warburton
Ross Warburton
Number of employees
Over 4,500[1]
Parent
Warburtons Holdings Limited[2]
Website
warburtons.co.uk
Warburtons Limited[3] is a British baking firm founded by Thomas Warburton in 1876 and based in Bolton, a town formerly in Lancashire, England, and now in Greater Manchester. For much of its history Warburtons only had bakeries in Lancashire and it remains a family-owned company. As of 2018, Warburtons has 12 bakeries, 14 depots, and 4,500 employees around the UK.[4]
The company embarked on a large expansion programme in the late 1990s which continued in the 2000s and it has grown across the United Kingdom after being relatively unheard of outside the North West.[5] By 2010, it had a 24% share of the UK bread market compared with 2% when it was based solely in Bolton.[6] In 2008, Warburtons was the most popular bread in Lancashire with a 45% market share compared with just 15% in London.[7]
In 2012, the Warburtons brand was the most popular bread in the United Kingdom, ahead of rivals Kingsmill and Hovis, a position it claimed in 2008.[8] Up to 2010, Warburtons products were the second-best selling food and drink brand in the UK after Coca-Cola[6] and ahead of brands such as Cadbury's, Barr's, and Walker's.[9]
The company donated £25,000 to the Conservative Party in 2010, and staged one of David Cameron's speeches at its Bolton headquarters.[10][11] In a 2016 interview with Campaign, chairman Jonathan Warburton was quoted as saying Brexit was "a very good thing to have happened", and called the European Union a "rotting corpse".[12][13]
In response to the UK Government's measures against COVID-19, Warburton said "It went too far... people have been hugely fearful, unnecessarily".[14]
^"Warburtons announces expansion into Kent". Warburtons. 21 April 2008. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
^"Warburtons Limited persons with significant control - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". Companies House. 6 April 2016. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
^"Warburtons Limited overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". Companies House. 29 December 1921. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
^Grant, Jeremy. "CEO succession planning in a family business". strategy+business. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
^"A family firm that blows its own trumpet". BBC News. 7 March 2007. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
^ abTeather, Daniel (8 April 2010). "Family values hold key to the rise and rise of Warburtons". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
^"Warburtons launches battle of the bakers with £22m campaign". The Times. 6 October 2008.
^"Coke Still Fizzing As Smoothies Rocket". Sky News. 3 March 2008. Archived from the original on 17 July 2012. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
^Wallop, Harry (22 February 2007). "Warburtons now second biggest UK brand". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
^Warnes, Sophie; Sommerlad, Nick (25 March 2015). "Buy these 11 things and you are unwittingly funding the Tories". The mirror. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
^"Bread rolls in for David Cameron with £25,000 from Warburtons". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
^"Ties that bind: How business dynasties create brand opportunities". Campaign Magazine. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
^"Warburtons boss toasted over 2016 comments about 'rotting' EU – here's why". www.indy100.com. 24 July 2021. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
^Haslett, Emma (23 February 2022). "Bagels, Brexit and Bob De Niro: Jonathan Warburton on the business of bread". New Statesman. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
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