Birds Bakery
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Food (Bakery Group) |
| Founded | 1919 |
| Founders | Frank, Thomas and Reginald Bird |
| Headquarters | Derby, England, UK |
Number of locations | 65[1] |
| Products | Sandwiches, pies and pastries; baked goods |
| Website | birdsbakery |
Birds Bakery, is a bakery chain based in Derby, England. As of October 2019[update] the chain has 65 outlets across the Midlands.[1]
History
Birds was founded by Frank, Thomas and Reginald Bird after they purchased Peach’s bakery and pork butchers on Upper Dale Road in 1919.[citation needed] Eight years later they opened their second shop on Normanton Road and continued to expand across the town. When the last of the three brothers, Frank Bird, died in 1951, the bakery was taken over by two more members of the family, Reg and Paul Bird.[2]
In 1971 production was moved to a new building at Ascot Drive with their previous headquarters being demolished, and by 1972 Birds employed 300 people and operated 18 retail shops.[2] In 2017 the 60th Birds shop opened in Sinfin[3] and the chain is continuing to expand, with 65 outlets as of October 2019[update].[1]
Controversy
In 2020, Megan Metcalfe, who was the Store Manager of the Radcliffe-on-Trent branch, was sacked for gross misconduct after she benignly accepted cash payments from elderly customers without bank cards during the COVID-19 pandemic.[4] The dismissal of Ms Metcalfe, a 60-year old employee with more than 40 years of experience working for Birds, led to a petition being created calling for her to be re-instated or compensated, which as of 3 August 2020 has over 13,000 signatures. [5]
References
- ^ a b c "New Birds Bakery shop opens in Nottingham city centre". Nottingham Post. 23 October 2019. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
- ^ a b "How three brothers created the Birds empire from a small Derby shop". Derby Telegraph. 8 October 2018. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
- ^ "New Birds bakery store opens in Sinfin". Derby Telegraph. 11 September 2017. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
- ^ "Birds Bakery manager sacked for taking cash payments and using her card to pay instead". Nottinghamshire Live. 30 July 2020. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
- ^ "Card-only payment policy brings Birds backlash". 3 August 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2020.