The Village Bakery – a proven success
A second-generation family bakery in a County Armagh town has chalked up over four decades in business. Celebrating growth and development in their 42 years, The Village Bakery in Markethill prides itself on its traditional products with quality at its heart, as co-owners Adam and Jason McMahon tell NR.
Widely renowned for their traditional breads and hugely popular birthday cakes, The Village Bakery has established itself as the go-to bakery for families celebrating those special occasions.
Marking some of their own special occasions, the second-generation family bakery is now 42 years in business, with Joe McMahon at the helm back in 1984. Now sons Adam and Jason are running the business together, building upon a trusted reputation throughout County Armagh.
Since then, Joe and his wife, Linda have worked hard, dedicating themselves to creating a much-loved and tasty business serving a loyal customer base.
As Adam told NR, what started off as a small bakery with two people has risen its staff numbers to 13 and established a wholesale arm.
“Over those 40 years, the business has grown and developed; we have extended the bakery and developed a very good wholesale business too,” said Adam.
“We have the shop on the main street in Markethill, which serves the public five days a week, but the wholesale side has become a bigger part for us now. We deliver to stores within a 15 to 20-mile radius of the bakery, to towns and villages including Keady, Tandragee and Laurelvale, Hamiltonsbawn, and of course we supply to stores including Hunters and Hills here in Markethill.
“We are a small bakery and consumers have so much choice out there now, so for us, it’s about making sure the quality and freshness of the products is there and only using the best ingredients. We cannot make the products as cheap as factory bakeries, so you need to make sure you build a loyal customer base.”
Known far and wide for their jam and cream sponge birthday cakes, The Village Bakery has indeed built up a very loyal customer base, with Adam revealing they have customers travelling from Belfast and as far away as Enniskillen when wanting a special cake for that special occasion.
“You need a good team and staff around, then you need to look after and retain them and that all makes a difference. We have two employees that started straight after high school and both have worked here for 40 years, so we can’t be that bad to work for!” said Adam.
With a typical early start in the bakery business, Adam and the other bakers start at 5am each day, with the ovens, which are on a timer, already warmed up for that first early batch of fresh products.
“When the wholesale team come in at 7am, the products are already cooling and we stock the shop with freshly baked products each morning too. Our wholesale orders come in the day before, so we start baking them fresh. It can be a bit of a guessing game making sure you have enough baked for wholesale and for the shop!”
While Joe retired from the bakery a few years ago, stepping back and letting Adam and Jason take the helm in baking and running the business, The Village Bakery continues to be a proud family business, with the brothers overseeing the baking and running of the bakery, while mum Linda looking after administration.
