White’s Bakery: How a Yorkshire Food Producer Rebuilt for Growth After COVID-19
White’s Bakery is an independent food manufacturer based in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, specialising in individually wrapped home-baked goods sold into the foodservice sector. A family-run business with deep roots in its local community, the bakery employs 44 people and had built a solid reputation for quality before the pandemic stopped their industry in its tracks.
When the foodservice sector effectively shut down overnight in 2020, White’s Bakery found themselves in a position that will be familiar to many SME food producers: a strong product, a loyal workforce, and a business model that suddenly had no market to sell into.
They needed more than survival tactics. They needed a clear strategy for what came next.
This is the story of how BrookConsult helped them build one.
The Challenge: Rebuilding Without a Roadmap
The COVID-19 pandemic hit foodservice suppliers particularly hard. When hospitality venues, workplace canteens, and catering operators closed or scaled back, White’s Bakery lost a significant portion of their customer base almost immediately. Revenue dried up, operational momentum stalled, and the owners found themselves managing a crisis with no clear picture of what recovery would look like or how long it would take.
Beyond the immediate revenue shock, the business faced deeper structural questions that the pandemic had simply accelerated. There was no formal strategic plan in place. Financial visibility, particularly around gross profit margins and cost control was limited. And with 44 employees depending on the business, the owners were acutely aware that the decisions they made coming out of the pandemic would determine whether those jobs were secure.
The challenge wasn’t just about bouncing back. It was about rebuilding on stronger foundations than had existed before.
The Solution: A Structured Path to Recovery
BrookConsult’s involvement began through a trusted introduction to Mike Brook, one of BrookConsult’s senior consultants, during the pandemic itself. Rather than arriving with a pre-packaged programme, the team started by listening, working to understand the bakery’s operations, its people, and the owners’ ambitions for the future.
The centrepiece of the engagement was a 4-year Compass/Roadmap diagnostic. This tool is designed to give business owners a structured, honest view of where they are across the areas that matter most: turnover, gross profit, net profit, operational efficiency, technology readiness, and workforce development. For White’s Bakery, it served as both a mirror and a map, showing them clearly what needed to change and giving them a sequenced plan for how to get there.
BrookConsult’s Business Support Manager worked alongside the owners on a regular basis, translating the roadmap into practical actions. That included advice on grant funding opportunities and hands-on support with the paperwork required to access them, removing a barrier that many SMEs struggle with independently.
Critically, the approach was built around the owners themselves. A core aim was to develop their financial literacy and business confidence, so that strategic decisions could be made with clarity rather than anxiety.
The Results: Measurable Growth Across Every Area
The changes put in place over the course of the engagement delivered tangible improvements across White’s Bakery’s commercial and operational performance.
Profitability improved significantly, with gross profit margins rising from 38% to over 42%, a meaningful shift for a business operating in a sector where margins are tightly managed. This was achieved through a combination of better cost visibility, waste reduction, and more disciplined pricing and procurement practices.
Operational efficiency was transformed by investment in new equipment and a move to a cloud-based ERP system linked directly to their accounting software, Xero. Digitising their food service systems and upgrading their broadband infrastructure reduced manual processes, improved data accuracy, and freed up management time previously spent on administration.
Waste and energy came down as a result of these efficiency improvements, contributing both to cost savings and to the bakery’s environmental footprint.
The workforce saw renewed investment in their development, with individualised training plans put in place across the team. Engagement improved, and the senior leadership team grew in confidence and capability, taking greater ownership of business decisions.
Perhaps most significantly: job security, which had been a genuine concern during the darkest point of the pandemic, was no longer in doubt. With the business restored to a healthy trading position, White’s Bakery set an ambitious but credible growth target of 30%, aiming for a minimum of £4.4 million in annual revenue, a milestone that would create further opportunities for the team and the business.
What White’s Bakery Said
The owners and team at White’s Bakery were consistent in their feedback: BrookConsult’s value wasn’t just in the tools and frameworks they brought, but in the practical, plain-speaking support they provided throughout. Regular updates, clear communication, and a consultant who understood the realities of running an SME made the difference between advice that gathers dust and advice that actually gets implemented.
“The support provided by BrookConsult has been invaluable, and we would highly recommend them to other businesses in need of strategic guidance and support.“, – White’s Bakery
White’s Bakery continues to progress on their improvement journey. They are now preparing for a Smart Industry Readiness Index (SIRI) assessment, a formal evaluation of their digital maturity and Industry 4.0 readiness, marking the next phase of a transformation that began with a conversation about survival and has evolved into a genuine growth story.
Is your business at a similar crossroads? Whether you’re navigating post-disruption recovery, looking to improve profitability, or exploring what digital transformation could mean for your operations, BrookConsult works with food manufacturers and SMEs across Yorkshire and the UK to build practical, grounded strategies for growth.
Talk to BrookConsult about your business: https://www.brookconsult.co.uk/contact-us/
