NEWS REVIEW OF THE YEAR
The stories that made the headlines in British Baker over the last year
Supermarket Asda signed up craft baker Greenhalgh's to supply stores in the north-west as it rolled out a local sourcing initiative.Compass said it was selling its Select Service Partner businesses including Upper Crust and Millie's Cookies to focus on its core catering division.British Baker celebrated its 120th anniversary with a look back on the history of the title and the big stories it had covered over the years.Greencore Group bought the London-based Oldfields sandwich business for £12.2m and sold its Greencore Pizza business to management.A compensation payment of £500,000 was made to 123 former New Rathbones staff in Carlisle, who learnt about their redundancies over the radio. The hourly paid workers were given 90 days pay as there had been no consultation with unions of staff over the redundancies – a legal requirement.Welsh chain Ferrari's bought 22 former Sweetmans stores, boosting its estate to 64 stores. The deal put Ferrari's just behind Greggs in terms of store numbers in Wales. Greggs' Welsh division had 67 stores.Memory Lane Cakes saw 19 of its 1,000 staff arrested in a joint swoop by Immigration Services and the Department of Work and Pensions. It had set up a mock training session for the staff on the authorities' hit list. Sainsbury's claimed to be the first to introduce a low-GI loaf to in-store bakeries. The Taste the Difference Multiseeded 800g loaf also had reduced salt.Organic company Duchy Originals announced plans to build a bakery in Cornwall, to bake Cornish pasties and pastries. The new bakery will open in April, employing 10 staff.Allied Bakeries was fined £10,000 for polluting the River Beane with waste soya brine from its Stevenage bakery.RHM said it would relaunch Mr Kipling again in January 2006, after reporting poor sales.Bakery retailer M Firkin closed its central bakery in West Bromwich for a week due to a mouse infestation.