Cake firm BBF secures £40m growth funding

Blackburn-based BBF, which specialises in own-label, licensed and branded cakes and desserts, is set to expand after securing a £40m financing facility.

BBF operates manufacturing facilities in Blackburn, Bradford and Poland. Its products can be found in stores such as Tesco, Sainsburys, Asda, M&S, Aldi and Lidl.

The three-year funding has been provided by Wells Fargo Capital Finance and will be used to enhance its manufacturing capabilities, including through acquisition.

BBF, led by CEO Jonathan Lill, has been owned by private equity investor Endless since 2015.

The group recently acquired Greencore's ambient cake and chilled desserts division, headquartered from a large, modern bakery in Hull. This took annual group revenues above £150m, with more than 2,000 people employed in total.

Jonathan Lill said: “The facility provided by Wells Fargo gives the business extra firepower to make further investment in all of our manufacturing sites and to deliver on our strategic growth plans. Wells demonstrated great appetite throughout the process to support the business and we’re excited to have secured this new funding facility.”