Wrights Food Group appoints new MD

Wrights Food Group has appointed a new managing director as it continues to expand the business into new markets and develop more retail and foodservice partnerships.

The food manufacturing specialist, which supplies savoury and sweet bakery products as well as ready meals to some of the UK’s leading retail and foodservice operators, has appointed Ian Dobbie to the new role from this month.

Dobbie is an experienced board director, having held a 20-year role as UK managing director and then CEO of global bakery business the Délifrance group, specialising in the supply of frozen bake-off products. He has also held senior positions at Associated British Foods, CPC / Bestfoods and Northern Foods.

The appointment follows a year of significant change for Wrights Food Group which saw retail sales increase by 20 per cent in 2020, with a new seasonal range launch with Marks & Spencer alongside the recent introduction of sub brands, including two food-to-go concepts, Urban Bistro and commercial food delivery service Wrights Bites and its onsite Sheaf Street bakery.

Working alongside the company’s chairman Peter Wright and the board of directors, Dobbie will focus on further growth across all trade channels and developing a strategic plan for the next stage of business expansion.

“While this is a challenging time for all businesses, it is also immensely exciting as we build on almost a century of Wrights food production across our multiple site business which has the capacity to grow alongside the agility to innovate and move quickly on customer briefs," said Dobbie.

“Developing new partnerships and launching new lines has been a key focus of the last 12 months and I’m keen to lead the team in further strategic growth while continuing to invest in and perfect our NPD to introduce even more first-to-market products.”

Commenting on the new role within the business, chairman Peter Wright, added: “As an established food manufacturer we are growing, evolving and entering new markets. Ian’s appointment marks a new chapter in almost a century of producing quality ‘family favourites’ for foodservice, retail and food to go markets and I know Ian is absolutely the right person to maximise the many opportunities that are open to us.”

The Wrights Food Group operates with a team of 600 across two sites in Crewe and includes 15 high street stores across the North West. It produces sweet bakery and more than three million savoury products per week for the foodservice, bakery and the retail sectors.