Did you know that Cooplands has been selling and producing high-quality products for over 130 years?
We have quite humble beginnings, originating from a small pork butcher and pie shop in Scarborough and now we have over 170 shops and 12 cafés all over Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and the North East.
Founded by a young husband and wife, Frederick and Alice Coopland, Cooplands began trading as a small pork butcher and pie maker on Market Street, Scarborough. Their bestselling pork pies and savouries start to make a name for the Coopland family.
Sadly, Frederick Coopland passes away at only 47, leaving his wife Alice in sole charge of the business and their four children.
In 1915 a disastrous fire destroys the shop on Market Street. Alice Coopland and her children are left with only the clothes they are wearing. Despite this blow to the family, Alice Coopland is determined to keep the company going. With the least possible delay, she opens a new shop on Newborough, Scarborough. The headquarters of the business remain here for the next 45 years.
Alice Coopland passes away in the late 1930s and her only son, Frederick Coopland (known as ‘Mickey’) and his wife Ellen (known as ‘Nicky’) take over the business.
In 1942, Frederick (Mickey) Coopland dies and his wife, Ellen, takes charge of the business.
After the war their son, Freddie Coopland, returns from serving with the Navy and inherits the business aged only 17. Freddie trains in baking and confectionery and gradually moves the company into bakery products.
Coopland & Son becomes a limited company in 1949.
Huge development work takes place on the main site at Newborough, Scarborough. The updated premises sees Scarborough’s first self-service supermarket on the ground floor, with a restaurant above and a bakery at the second floor level.
During the 1960s the business expands and a further 11 shops, 2 cafés and wholesale business open. A new bakery, which is state of the art for the time, is built.
Unfortunately, the recession in the late 1970s takes its toll and the business downsizes to 5 shops and 1 café.
Cooplands current managing director, Paul Coopland, joins the family business in 1984. The company begins to grow again and quickly doubles to 10 shops. Plans are drawn up to find a new site to build a larger bakery.
In 1985 Cooplands celebrated their centenary.
The new, modern bakery completes in 1991 and starts production at Eastfield, Scarborough.
8 years later, 10 more shops open which necessitate a 20,000 sq. ft. extension to the new bakery.
In 2001 Cooplands gain the National Training Award for recognition of excellent training services for staff. Four years later, Cooplands further show their commitment to training and establish a NVQ training centre.
The business expands further after Cooplands acquire Hull based bakery Skeltons and 37 of their shops.
Cooplands continue to recognise the importance of high quality training and set up their own bakery college within the bakery site in Hull and take on their first of 16 apprentices.
The business grows rapidly as it acquires Woodhead’s bakery in Scarborough, Ainsley’s in Leeds and Peters Cathedral Bakers in the North East. This brings to total number of shops to over 155, supplied to from 3 bakeries.
2017 saw an investment from BGF of £8.5m. The investement was used to accelerate the rollout of Cooplands shops, expand the growing sandwich van service and develop the production facilities.
In late 2019, Belinda Youngs is appointed as CEO. Belinda has previously held positions at Morrisons, Sainsbury's and Sobeys Inc, the second largest food retailer in China. She looks forward to helping build the brand, focusing on producing quality products at great value and meeting the needs of today's and tomorrow's customers.
With the sudden demand of vegan products on the market, the business became one of the first high street bakery chains to 100% vegan bread and rolls, as well as developing vegan pasties.
Presently, Cooplands employ over 1,600 people and are the second-largest bakery chain in the UK. The Coopland family remain important shareholders of the business, with Paul Coopland continuing to support the business in a non-executive capacity. His wife and daughter also work in the company.
During the global coronavirus pandemic in 2020, Cooplands remained committed to serving their local communities by keeping as many of their shops open as possible. Within 3 days, the company had adapted their operating model and sourced staple items such as milk, cheese and fresh fruit and vegetables to sell in the shops that remained open, to provide easier access and increase availability at a time when supermarkets were struggling to meet demand. Cooplands also launched a website that made online ordering possible for essential food parcels. They used their own delivery drivers and vans to deliver to people's doors. Over 1,200 food parcels were delivered over lockdown, providing vital supplies to those most vulnerable and shielding. Once the food parcels had finished, they expanded their website to be able to offer a Click & Collect service available at all their shops.
Cooplands were honoured to be Finalists for the Craft Bakery Business Award at the Baking Industry Awards 2020. Showing that even despite the size of the company and the scale of products being produced, they still champion craft and traditional bakery methods.
Cooplands continue to innovate to meet the evolving tastes and needs of all consumers. For Veganuary 2021, they launched a full vegan range including a Vegan Steak, Cheeze & Vegetable Bake, Vegan Pizza slice and Cheeze & Pickle Sandwich. They also catered for sweet-toothed customers with the first vegan-friendly cream cake on the UK high street.
