Warburtons

Warburtons

Type	Private
Industry	Baking
Founded	1876
Headquarters	Bolton, Greater Manchester England
Key people	Tom Warburton, Founder. Jonathan Warburton, Chairman
Products	Bread and other bakery goods
Revenue	£574.4 milion
Owner	Jonathan, Brett and Ross Warburton
Number of employees	Over 4,500
Parent	Warburtons 1876 Ltd
Website	warburtons.co.uk

Warburtons is a British baking firm founded by Thomas Warburton in 1876 and based in Bolton, a town in Greater Manchester formerly Lancashire, England. For much of its history Warburtons only had bakeries in Lancashire and it remains a family-owned company.

The company embarked on a large expansion program 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 The company has a 24% share of the UK bread market compared with 2% when it was based solely in Bolton. Warburtons is the most popular bread in Lancashire with a 45% market share compared with a 15% share in London.

The Warburtons brand is the most popular bread in the United Kingdom, ahead of rivals Kingsmill and Hovis, a position it has held since 2008. Overall, Warburtons products are the second-best selling food and drink brand in the UK after Coca-Cola and ahead of famous British brands such as Cadbury's, Barrs and Walker's.

Ellen and Thomas Warburton bought a small grocery shop in Bolton in 1876. The business grew and Thomas' nephew Henry joined the business when he was 16 and became a skilled baker by the age of 25. New technology drove the business forward and Henry continued to expand the business. The location of the bakery was moved four times in 25 years finishing with the opening of Back o'th' Bank Bakery opened by Rachael Warburton in July 1915. Henry became involved in local affairs within the community and stood as a Liberal candidate. He became mayor of Bolton. Henry Warburton died in 1936.

Warburtons grew with the purchase of several smaller companies in North West England.

Production of bread was based in Bolton for much of the company's history. However, bread made in Bolton would have lost its freshness by the time it was transported to locations in Southern England. With demand increasing from national retailers such as Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury's, in the late 1990s the company embarked on an expansion programme and opened new plants at Eastwood in Nottinghamshire, Bellshill and Wednesbury. Warburtons moved into Scotland in 1996 and by 2003 the company had a 32% share of the Scottish bread market, just seven years after entering the Scottish market.