The Village Bakery boss said that it was a “testament to the people” that the business was able to bounce back following the devastating fire in 2019.

The fire, which tore through the Industrial Estate unit three years ago on August 19, may have finished many other businesses, however, the Village Bakery promised to rebuild and did so, today having a state-of-the-art bakery.

Managing director and Master Baker, Robin Jones, said: “We didn’t think twice, we just did it. We didn’t do it for any sympathy, we just said we’d do it and we carried on and I think that’s a testament to the people here because they just carried on.”

The fire, which was confirmed at the time to be accidental, brought Wrexham communities together, being a local employer of just under 800 people and held in high regard in the community.

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Robin is a third-generation baker, with his granddad and dad buying the business in 1964 and growing it in Wrexham.

Robin said: “I’m proud to be a Wrexham business, (we’re) Wrexham through and through. Dad and granddad came here in 1964 and we all live within three miles of the bakery. It's in our DNA and Wrexham’s on the up, we’re very proud to be part of it, and very proud to be playing our part.”

He added: “People knock Wrexham too much, it’s a great place, great people. Look what happened after the fire, the offers of help and support from people we never knew, they were there. You don’t get that in every place, there is a genuine belief that Wrexham people believe in Wrexham, and we need to nurture that.”

Following the news of the fire in 2019, there was an outpouring of love on social media towards the business, who were and remain grateful for the support.

The Leader: A marker beside the steel beam outside the new bakery A marker beside the steel beam outside the new bakery (Image: Village Bakery)

Robin said: “It was a very difficult time for the family, to see 35 years of hard work go in two hours, we didn’t know what to do.

“I think we were all a bit shellshocked, but I think at the time that’s having the clarity of great people and as a family business, dad came down within a couple of hours and said ‘what do you want to do?’, and I said ‘dad I’d like to rebuild it’, and he said, ‘right let's go do it, I ask of only one thing - you do it properly’, which he’s always said and that’s what we did and look at this wonderful facility now.”

The fire may have set them back slightly, but the business continues to grow and expand, having originally bought the land seven years ago to do so in Wrexham despite opportunities elsewhere.