Baker wants a bigger slice of retail trade

Oct 26 2007 by Graeme King, The Journal

ONE of the best known names on the North-East high street, Milligans Bakery, is heading for growth after deciding to move out of manufacturing.

Milligans, based in Jesmond, Newcastle, already runs four shops in prominent locations around the region, as well as nine cafes across the North, and is on the trail of more sites as well as investing more than £100,000 per outlet in a major refurbishment programme.

The company is on target to achieve sales of £6.5m in 2007 and the management team expects to build on that figure in the coming years – as well as employing more staff on top of the 230 already in the company.

Milligans, with more than 60 years of history behind its brand, decided at the end of last year to concentrate on its core retail business and sell its manufacturing bakery and some community-based shops to regional counterpart North East Bakery. All its manufacturing staff, based at Newburn in Newcastle, transferred to the new employer and the two companies remain close business partners.

Now the Milligans brand is tightly focused on expanding the retail business with the management team concentrating on new sites and improving the existing ones.

Managing director Stephen Milligan, the third generation of his family to take charge of the business, said: “We have prime city centre locations and we are constantly looking for sites, as well as refitting.

“We’ve always been a wholly family owned business and have built our reputation on providing a good service with good quality products.”

Mr Milligan explained that the company’s ongoing shop and cafe refit programme had recently seen its Lincoln branch completed, and Durham and Kendal were next in line.

Milligans’ four bakery shops are on Northumberland Street in Newcastle, Athenaeum Street in Sunderland, Newport Road in Middlesbrough, and in the red mall in the MetroCentre. The company also owns and operates Bowers pork butchers on Nun Street in Newcastle.

On the coffee shop side of the business – all located in prime retail sites – Milligans has ‘Cafe M’ outlets in including Newcastle, Durham, Kendal, Carlisle, Lincoln, Grimsby, Scarborough, Harrogate and MetroCentre, Gateshead.

Mr Milligan explained that the company had taken a decision not to manufacture any more so he and his senior team could focus on the retail business.

He said: “We got out of manufacturing and our small community-based shops, so we could focus our management time on city centre locations, and expanding the coffee shop side of the business.

“We chose to sell the bakery to North East Bakery to safeguard the employment of the people who work there, and to retain the quality of product that our customers have always been used to.

“But we still trade as Milligans and have every intention of continuing as a retail and restaurant business.

“We have a number of very important units in the North-East and a number of coffee shops throughout the north of England. We have a very strong reputation in the North-East.”

Chairman Lloyd Milligan, Stephen’s father, added: “It was an ideal marriage as they were looking for bigger premises.

“We are great believers in supporting the North-East – for instance we purchase our teas and coffees from Ringtons. Wherever possible we source local quality produce.”