Graeme Clark is an ambitious man. Finsbury Food Group’s turnover has rocketed from £70m to £500m in the 18 years he’s been with the Scottish bakery giant, but he’s far from satisfied. “We set out with a target of becoming a billion-pound bakery business and that ambition is still there,” he says.

If the business reaches those heights, it’ll almost certainly be rooted in its buy-and-build strategy. “We’ve always looked to be acquisitive,” admits Clark, who was named chief commercial officer in May 2024. From Finsbury’s 2002 origins as a cash shell with an imminent listing on London’s junior stock market, the business has doggedly pursued such an approach – beginning with the purchase of Memory Lane Cakes.

After the cakes came bread, meringues and more. There’s been “constant change”, according to the Glasgow native. “That’s probably the reason I can still justify being here after 18 years.”