BAKERY boss Brett Warburton opened a new £20million development at the firm’s Burnley site and revealed there was space for a new production unit already earmarked.

He said the expansion producing the Lancashire-based firm’s new range of wraps and ‘Thins’ was a clear demonstration of its commitment to the town and the workforce at the plant.

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The 59-year-old, one of four cousins that run the company, chose former Accrington bakery ‘temp’ turned Burnley manufacturing manager Alan Beardsworth to cut the ribbon on the new development.

The newly-opened plant produces soft, flat, individual slices that can be topped like crackers or filled to make sandwiches that fit snugly in people’s lunchboxes.

Mr Warburton revealed to the Lancashire Telegraph: “We have six lines at the Burnley plant and there is space in the new building for a seventh.

“We have future-proofed this building so we can add another production line.

“Exactly what that will be and when it will be built I don’t know. We will respond to what the market wants.”

The new line created 60 more jobs at Burnley, bringing the workforce up to 260 from an original team of just 100 when the firm opened its third bakery there in 1981.

Any new production line, which would cost millions to install, would be likely to need the same number of new employees. The empty space in the building is identical to the existing one.

Among the staff were several from the former Moseley’s Bakery in Accrington, including Mr Beardsworth who had started as a temporary baker worker aged 23.

The 57-year-old married father-of two from Oswaldtwistle said: “It’s great to have started at the bottom and then be opening the new plant with the boss.

“This is a great company which really gives its staff opportunities.”

The other lines on the plant make bread, crumpets, potato cakes and pancakes.

The 100 metre long plant adjacent to the existing bakery in Billington Road will produce 33,400 individual items per hour.

Mr Warburton said: “As a family business, we are able to take decisions for the long term and this investment in Burnley reflects our commitment to the site, while also demonstrating our continued ambition for future growth. We are based in Bolton where we started with a bread shop in 1876 and our heart and soul are in Lancashire.”