Everything’s on the rise at a leading South Wales bakery business as they celebrate two landmark achievements.
Jenkins the Bakers, a third generation family business based in Llanelli, has achieved the Gold Standard Welsh Food Hygiene Award.
And the firm has also had the rubber stamp put on its Investors in People award, a benchmark certificate which was first awarded to the firm back in 2004.
“They are great achievements for us and a huge amount of praise is due to our hard-working staff, who have helped us land these two major awards,” said Operations Director Russell Jenkins.
Commercial Director and Company Secretary David Jenkins said the company first picked up an Investors in People award back in January 2004.
“In order to keep the award, we had to be reassessed,” he said.
“Investors in People is a very rigorous benchmark award and have to make sure we have everything in place for health and safety, food hygiene, staff training and a whole host of other things.
“We are a business which has to be very focused on personal service. The customer is king and we make sure our staff are friendly and thoroughly professional in everything they do.
“Essentially, we are a people business. We are retail, not wholesale. We employ 300 people, full and part-time, across 25 different stores in South Wales and, of course, we have our main bakery and HQ here in Llanelli.”
The Jenkins business will celebrate its 90th anniversary next year. “That speaks volumes,” said Mr David Jenkins. “We are very proud to continue to be a family business and I think that shines through in everything we do.
“We are committed to developing our staff and that is one of the key building blocks which has helped achieve Investors in People once again. There is no doubt about it, the award motivates staff, improves morale and helps us develop good relations with all our staff.
“We recognise good work by our staff and we have some people with us who have more than 30 years service.”
The business employs 70 people at the Trostre HQ, while the Jenkins shop network stretches from Carmarthen to Bridgend. There are 13 shops in Carmarthenshire and even one as far afield as Powys.
The Food Hygiene Gold Standard award gained by the company was awarded by the Food Standards Agency and Carmarthenshire County Council.
Mr Russell Jenkins said: “This is the second time we have received this award; the first time we received it was in September 2008.
“Again, these awards are not given lightly and we received inspection visits to make sure we were up to mark with all our food management systems, making sure that what we produce is of the correct standard and quality.
“We still maintain traditional values and bread is still a very important part of the business. We have a very long fermentation period for the dough for our white bread. This enhances the flavour, the crumb structure and keeping qualities. It helps to make it unique and easily recognisable as a Jenkins product.”
Mr David Jenkins added: “We are delighted to receive these two prestigious awards, especially as we are approaching our 90th anniversary. They are a huge boost to the business and a great feather in the cap for our staff.”
Facts and figures . . .
Jenkins the Bakers produce 50,000 corned beef pasties a week.
The company serves 60,000 customers per week
7,500 custard slices are produced in a week.
The business uses 15 tons of flour a week
The flour silo at the Trostre HQ sees an 18-ton delivery every 10 days.
Celebrating: Staff at the Jenkins Bakers head office at Trostre Business Park get together with Operations Director Russell Jenkins and Commercial Director and Company Secretary David Jenkins to show off their new awards.
Men at the top: Operations Director Russell Jenkins (left) and Commercial Director and Company Secretary David Jenkins show off their company’s latest awards.
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