Jobs to go as Doncaster bakery set to close a year after being bought out

Cake maker Sargent’s Bakeries, which is based on Doncaster’s Shaw Lane industrial estate, has been earmarked for closure by parent company BBF Ltd which snapped up the business for an undisclosed sum last year.

A spokesman for BBF said: “Sargents was experiencing significant financial difficulties prior to us acquiring the business.

"Since the acquisition in 2021, there have been several external factors outside of our control which have further adversely affected the business.

“As a result, it is with regret that we have announced the proposed closure of Sargents Bakeries Limited. We appreciate that this is a very difficult situation for everyone and we will provide as much support as possible to everyone affected.”

BBF supplies retailers including M&S and the UK’s leading supermarkets with more than 600 million cakes and desserts annually.

Last year, bosses said the combined business would have turnover approaching £200m, employing more than 1,700 people across six sites.

BBF already had four bakeries across the North of England, and one in Poland, before the acquisition of the Doncaster factory, which is based in Ogden Road.

Sargents has operated in Doncaster since 2007, carrying on the proud baking traditions of George Sargent and his wife, Charlotte, renowned pastry cooks of the late 19th and early 20th century, who first founded Sargents in Australia in 1896.

The company has seen annual revenue of £24m – and its Doncaster site continued to trade under the name of Sargents Bakeries Limited.