Warburtons has acquired Morrisons’ former Rathbones bakery site as part of a wider £100m investment to mark its 150th anniversary.
The UK’s largest bakery brand has finalised a deal with Morrisons’ manufacturing arm Myton Food Group to acquire the land, buildings and machinery at the site in Wakefield for an undisclosed sum. The new site, which will become Warburtons’ 13th bakery and is expected to be fully operational in September 2026, will create more than 40 jobs.
Warburtons said the acquisition would support “growing consumer demand and future innovation”.
“We’re extremely pleased to have agreed a deal on the former Rathbones site and look forward to welcoming new colleagues to the business very soon,” said chairman Jonathan Warburton.
“Our family business takes a long-term approach, investing in our infrastructure to ensure we not only meet consumer needs today, but are set up to do so for the future.”
It comes after Morrisons announced the closure of its Rathbones bakery business in January. The supermarket said struggles in the wider bakery sector had made the site unviable, while Myton Foods had also lost a significant third-party contract for the bakery last year, which had contributed to the decision to close.
Alongside the Wakefield deal, Warburtons is doubling the size of its gluten‑free facility, investing in a “state‑of‑the‑art bakery” in Newburn. The site, which has produced its gluten‑free range since 2011, will continue operating during redevelopment and is expected to be fully operational in autumn 2026.
The company is also investing in a new distribution centre in Biggleswade. The move would support its wider bakery and depot network in delivering more than two million products to over 18,500 stores each day, it said.
Additional investment is being made on three new production lines to meet “growing demand” for its crumpets and pancakes SKUs, including a new pancake line at its Bolton bakery, and two new crumpet lines at its site in Burnley.
The series of investments follows the company’s acquisition of a former Roberts Bakery site in Ilkeston last year.
Despite what Warburtons has branded a “difficult” bread market, the bakery’s sales were up 3.1% to £1.1bn in 2025. Its value was up £31.8m, with 19.4 million extra packs sold last year [NIQ 52 w/e 27 December 2025].
Performance was driven by factors including a diverse portfolio, on-trend products such as its Fibre Fix range and high-profile TV ad campaigns with award-winning actor Olivia Colman.
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