frank roberts & sons heroic wholemeal bloomer

Frank Roberts & Son relaunched its Roberts brand in 2017 with an increased focus on innovation and sustainability

Frank Roberts & Son has seen profits more than double in the past year despite operating in the challenging wrapped bread market.

For the year ending August 2019, the bread and morning goods manufacturer saw profits rise to £3.2m, up £1.5m on the previous year.

This was due to a number of operations implemented by the business to boost revenues, which grew 3.4% to £93.4m, and reverse a decline in operating margins.

Margins improvement was achieved through cost reduction initiatives such as reducing headcount from 854 to 813 .

“The UK wrapped bread market continues to be a tough trading environment with increasingly competitive landscape putting pressure on suppliers to deliver high quality products at competitive prices,” the company said.

“Having relaunched the Roberts brand in 2017 with a focus on innovation and sustainability, the business has been successful in differentiating itself in the competitive landscape and creating a significant increase in sales revenue.”

Looking ahead, the company said it was “well-placed” to handle the challenging trading environment and the issues brought on by Brexit.

There were no mentions of the coronavirus outbreak in the annual report and the business did not respond to The Grocer’s request for comment.