Family owned independent supermarket company Jempson’s is to merge and combine its bakery business with The Rye Bakery.
Established in Peasmarsh in June 1935, Jempson’s operates supermarkets, convenience stores and cafes in and around East Sussex.
The Rye Bakery was founded by Glenn Croucher in February 1989 and has a large established wholesale bakery business and three stand-alone shops in Hastings and Ore, East Sussex, as well as in Hawkhurst, Kent.
The Rye Bakery name will continue, with all jobs at both companies secure.
Production of bread and morning goods will be concentrated at one site in Rye from June.
The new location will become a modern state-of-the-art bakery, offering more room to supply Jempson’s stores as well as The Rye Bakery shops and fast growing band of wholesale customers. The Rye Bakery branded goods will be distributed throughout Jempson’s stores.
The Rye Bakery’s Glenn Croucher will be the production manager at the Rye site, and will oversee all production of bread and morning goods.
Cake production will remain at Jempson’s Peasmarsh Superstore under the supervision of Adrian Potter.
Glenn Croucher said: “Jempson’s, like The Rye Bakery, is a very well established local business with an excellent reputation, it has been baking at its Peasmarsh site for more than 80 years, and by bringing our combined production, expertise, proven methods and pride together, we will produce an enhanced range that still maintains the very highest standards and quality.”
Stephen Jempson said of the merger: “These are really exciting times, as this gives Jempson’s the opportunity to grow bakery production and the capability to open and supply more stores and cafes in the future.” He continued: “The convergence of the two companies will create economies of scale and synergies which will make the production unit that much more efficient and future-proof the business for the 21st century.”
Stephen Jempson
“The convergence of the two companies will create economies of scale and synergies which will make the production unit that much more efficient and future-proof the business for the 21st century.”
Good – I hope this means that Jempson’s & Rye Bakery’s product gets cheaper?
What a shame – I have been waiting for the Rye Bakery to re-open in the High Street. Does this mean that this is no longer going to happen?
We are losing all our small shops and this is another blow.
I so agree with P . Howe losing Rye Bakery to Jempsons continues the sadness of losing small shops to ’empires’!
We are also losing Johnsons Greengrocers as the High Street becomes ever more expensive for retailers. I imagine few of us will drop in to Rye Harbour Road for a bunch of bananas or the like…
Hopefully this ‘merger’ will improve quality: it has always amazed me that a company ‘Jempsons’ that started as a bakers manages to produce such tasteless bread