Food for Thought... Powering Regional Prosperity
27th February 2020
Details
Robin Jones, the inspirational Managing Director of renowned The Village Bakery will reflect on business opportunities and challenges in the next decade for the Welsh Food industry and as a major regional employer. Robin will be joined by Sara Moseley Mind Cymru and Kathryn Roberts the Wales representative of the Downing St initiative assessing the impact of wellbeing on productivity.
Speakers
Master baker Robin Jones is managing director of the Village Bakery, one of the UK’s most successful bakeries. The Wrexham firm makes premium breads, morning goods, savouries and bespoke products for major supermarket companies in the UK, along with a rapidly-growing export market.
The family-run bakery has won a host of awards for its mouth-watering products and Robin was named as British Baker of the Year in 2010. The long list of accolades also includes Robin being honoured in the Enterprise Category of the prestigious St David’s Awards and being named as Businessperson of the Year by the Daily Post.
The Village Bakery has won a new legion of fans for the way it’s bouncing back after a devastating fire last August. Things looked bleak when the blaze destroyed its head office, a state-of-the art bakery, the pioneering Baking Academy and cutting edge development kitchen. Luckily, nobody was hurt and undaunted the staff and management of the family firm vowed to come back stronger. Staff responded magnificently and production was ramped up at the other three bakeries to maintain supplies to their customers. Meanwhile, a new super bakery, the most modern in Europe, is being built to replace the old one and increase capacity.
Thirty of the staff displaced by the fire are making a new range of American-style bagels for a well-known retailer and the company has started supplying new customers in Iceland, Malta and Cyprus with Welsh batch loaves, rolls, pancakes, crumpets and Welsh Cakes.
Watch this space!
Robin Jones
Managing Director, Village Bakery
Sara is Director of Mind Cymru and an Executive Director of Mind. S Chairs the Wales Alliance for Mental Health, and the anti-stigma campaign, Time to Change Wales. She is a trustee and Director of WCVA (Welsh Council for Voluntary Action) and an Independent Member of Cardiff and Vale UHB.Sara has a background in journalism, communication and public engagement having been Director of Communications for the Welsh Government as well as Barts and the London NHS Trust and the young people’s homelessness charity, Centrepoint. She is passionate about enabling people’s voices and experiences to be heard and shared and about making sure everyone who needs it has the right support.Sara has a 20-year-old daughter at university and a 17-year-old son who is deaf, in mainstream education and has recently received a cochlear implant.She is a fluent Welsh speaker and comes originally from Aberystwyth
Sara Moseley
Director of Mind Cymru
Kath is the Senior Partner of Eversheds Sutherlands’ Cardiff office. The office comprises 550 people servicing local, national and international business clients.
As a global top 15 law practice, Eversheds Sutherland provides legal advice and solutions to a global client base ranging from small and mid-sized businesses to the largest multinationals. The business has 69 offices in 34 different jurisdictions and employs 5,000+ people led by 750 Partners. Eversheds Sutherland is a signatory of the Mindful Business Charter.
Kath grew up in Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire and then spent ten years in London studying and practicing law before joining Eversheds Sutherland 24 years ago. She started her career as a Professional Negligence Lawyer before moving into a Real Estate and management role.
Kath is a member of UK Finance, the Conveyancing Association and the Equity Release Council. She is on the CBI Council for Wales, a Board member of Maggie's Cancer centre in Cardiff and member of the Thriving in the Workplace Business Council, which works to raise awareness and support businesses to deal with mental health and wellness. Kath is also one of the founding members of the Monumental Welsh Women group which is spearheading a campaign to deliver more public art representing women in Wales.
In addition to raising awareness around mental wellbeing in the workplace Kath is passionate about the promotion of diversity, gender parity and social mobility, in the firm and wider profession.
Kath lives in Cardiff with her husband and two daughters.
Karthryn Roberts
Wales Representative of Downing St Task Group