French industrial bakery Groupe Menissez acquired the premium private-label maker Village Bakery from private equity investment company Limerston Capital, for an undisclosed amount.

Limerston invested in Village Bakery in 2021 and has overseen a period of investment and rapid growth including the opening of a new 140,000 sq ft ‘super bakery’ at the company’s headquarters in Wrexham, UK. The bakery’s team almost doubled and now counts over 900 employees. It now features three new automated lines producing bread rolls, sourdough loaves and pancakes. Village Bakery produces baked goods for leading brands across the retail, hospitality and food service sectors in the UK including Marks & Spencer, Tesco, the Co-op and Sainsbury’s.Based in Feignies, France, Groupe Menissez is a family business founded in 1965 and owned by Laurent Menissez and his family. Its bakery business generates group sales of around EUR 600 m. With this investment, Groupe Menissez continues to grow following its partnerships with Boulart in Canada, Délice de France in the UK, Van Roy in the Netherlands and Lemarié Patissier in France.

Robin Jones, CEO and co-owner, said: “I would like to thank Limerston Capital and their team for their input, support and playing their part in growing Village Bakery into what it is today. We can all be very proud of our achievements over the past three years, the quality of the platform that we have built and the exciting future for the business working with Groupe Menissez.”

João Rosa, Founding Partner, Limerston Capital, also commented: “We are delighted to have exited Village Bakery ahead of plan, following a period of significant investment, development and rapid growth for the company. Supported by the Limerston operating partners, the Village Bakery management team deserve enormous credit for their commitment and diligence in delivering the highest standards of product quality and best-in-class service to their loyal customers while doubling Group sales since the opening of the super-bakery. We wish the team well and we are delighted that Groupe Menissez will be overseeing the company’s next phase of growth.”

Photo: Village Bakery