Baker & Baker buys Scotland's Lazy Day Foods to grow free-from range
What's the deal? Baker & Baker has acquired Lazy Day FoodsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, one of the UK's leading free-from bakeries, for an undisclosed sum. The Wirral-based group gains a Harthill, North Lanarkshire site and roughly 190 staff. Founded in 2006, Lazy Day makes products free from gluten, milk, eggs, and nuts.
What's the endgame? Baker & Baker wants to push into free-from baking, a category it calls "an exciting area of growth." Lazy Day already supplies branded and private-label lines to TescoDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, SainsburyDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →'s, MorrisonsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and WaitroseDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →; the group plans to market it to its wider UK and international customer base.
Why now? Baker & Baker says its scale and customer relationships can accelerate Lazy Day's growth, while the Scottish firm's expertise sharpens its own offering. The deal adds a first Scottish factory, taking Baker & Baker to five UK sites and 2,650 staff.
What changes? The Lazy Day brand and Harthill site stay. "We're firmly committed to maintaining the operation and employee base," said chief executive officer Matthew Acheson. Lazy Day runs about 75 product lines for mainly UK retail and foodservice customers.
Lazy Day's shareholders — chairman David Kilshaw and joint managing directors Emer Bustard and Dr Sally Beattie — said they had "found the ideal owner to take the business forward," citing Baker & Baker's "scale, expertise and international reach."
The signal: It is Baker & Baker's second deal since becoming a standalone business in 2021, after buying a pastel de nata facility in Peniche, Portugal, in 2022 — a sign of selective, targeted expansion. The move also tracks a broader push by major bakers, including WarburtonsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, to widen free-from and gluten-free ranges.
Read more: foodmanufacture.co.uk
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
