Rival bakery offers job hope for Hollands workers

A bakery in the Black Country today pledged to find jobs for the 19 people made redundant by the collapse of a neighbouring firm.

Bilston-based Blackcountry Foods has agreed to step in after the collapse of the historic Hollands Craft Bakery, in John Street, Walsall.

Ken Westwood, director of the Bilston firm, said today its staff would be contacting those who have lost their jobs "in due course" to offer them new roles as the company looks to expand.

The business will also take over the traditionally family-run Hollands stall at Bilston Market, which has been running for 30 years but looked to be in jeopardy.

The stall will continue to carry the Hollands Craft name and serve up similar products to those baked at Blackcountry Foods' Anchor Road factory, using traditional recipes passed on by the former owners.

Father-of-two Mr Westwood, who runs Blackcountry Foods in Oakleigh Trading Estate with son John, 36, said today: "It's a shame - they just ran out of money.

"Substantial expansion plans for this business are in the pipeline and will be announced when the time is right.

"We are hoping to redeploy the same staff into new roles in the bakery or markets in due course."

The 62-year-old added: "The name of the market stall will stay the same as the people of Bilston have become very used to it.

"We'll offer the same high quality products they've traditionally sold there as per their recipes."

Blackcountry Foods was established in the 1990s and employs around a dozen people.

It mainly produces bread for businesses and shops.