Bakery expansion the cherry on the cake after challenging time

Recruitment drive

Earlier this year Cherrytree ran a major recruitment drive for 50 new staff after introducing a new weekend shift to meet growing demand. It will be recruiting again once the new facility is up and running.

The business has a refreshing approach to recruitment and aims to be as inclusive as possible as Mark explained:

“At the recent recruitment event at Burnley Football Club it became apparent that some of the people we were interviewing didn’t necessarily fit the full criteria we were looking for. But what they did display was drive and enthusiasm that would benefit the business. Recruitment shouldn’t be a one size fits all approach and we are really passionate about creating a diverse workforce.”

This flexible approach is also shown towards existing staff, with training and support given to those wanting to progress.

Staff wellbeing is high on the agenda at Cherrytree and the result of this is high levels of staff retention. Julie Page, operations director told us more: “The nature of the business is very labour intensive, our staff are vital to our success, so we want them to know that they are appreciated. We do this in several ways from offering a level of flexibility in start or finish times and in shift patterns to small gestures like an annual family Christmas party with Christmas gifts for the children. Every quarter we also treat staff to a meal and organise for a food van to come to the site.

“It’s important that we support our staff so whether that’s providing a listening ear to their problems or helping them complete any paperwork they are unsure of, we have an open-door policy and they know they can talk to us.”

The refurbishment

Cherrytree is hoping to start work on the refurbishment of its new building as soon as possible, with a view to bringing it online later this year. The plan is to make the facility as energy efficient as possible with the firm exploring carbon reduction options.

John Meadowcroft, who has recently been promoted to financial director will be part of a team looking at environmental issues including increasing the use of solar PV, moving to low energy lighting, using electric vehicles and making more of the waste recyclable.

With lead times on machinery at an all-time high the equipment for the new build is already on order, something that Mark admitted isn’t ideal: “We’d love to have had the new site ready before ordering but we can’t risk having an empty facility. We’ve had one piece of machinery on order for 12 months now, so it’s something that we can’t put off.”

Turnover on the rise

With 30 percent increase in turnover in the last year, how does this business manage growth while maintaining its ethos of ‘great products, made by great people, for great customers’?

Mark explained: “We’ve had interest from major retailers who would like us to tender for larger volume standardised products but that would require us to become fully automated. We pride ourselves in producing premium products, that require manual production techniques and we feel like this is the right path for us.

“We are very particular about who works for us and who we supply, and this means we are able to keep our standards high. We’ve future proofed the business by increasing our supply to the retail trade, but one thing that we won’t change is our commitment to quality.”

We can’t wait to see what tasty treats will be coming out of the new facility. So the next time you bite into a delicious muffin or tray bake just think it could have been produced right here in Burnley!