There's an old 19th century saying which prophesises that family businesses typically go from "cogs to clogs in three generations" - the success gained in one seldom continues onto the third. But for the Jones family who have been running the Village Bakery in Wrexham for almost six decades, that proverb is far from true.
The grandfather and father of the current directors - brothers Robin, Christien and Tim Jones - took over an existing 'back street' bakery in 1964 and it has since evolved from a small baking venture into a sparkling enterprise which employs almost 800 people across six bakeries and supplies one of the UK's best supermarkets, Marks and Spencer - which is no small feat. And its latest product for the retail giant is a current festive favourite - Christmas sourdough bread, which is flying off the shelves at your local branch.
Robin, who is now the managing director of the business, which, alongside M&S, supplies a number of other UK and European retail customers (such as Co-op), explains: "It all started back in 1934 at a bakery in Coedpoeth just outside Wrexham. It was run by the Edwards brothers and it was a family business. And in those days, it was a back street bakery, I think six or seven employees.
