Bakers Basco reports record equipment recoveries in Northern Ireland
Over 4000 items of bakery equipment have been recovered this year in Northern Ireland by Bakers Basco – a 41% year-on-year increase.
Marking its most successful year since expanding its operations on the region, Bakers Basco, the membership scheme formed by the UK’s leading plant bakers, recovered 4092 items.
Over the course of 2025, Bakers Basco’s investigations team recovered 2,414 Omega baskets and 1,678 dollies – totalling 4,092 items compared with 2,900 in 2024 – as part of a series of targeted recovery and enforcement efforts. The team also investigated 48 separate leads, resulting in multiple unsecure equipment collections and numerous charges issued to businesses misusing bakery assets.
Among the more notable findings, the team saved 50 Omega dollies from being crushed in a compactor at a retail store in Belfast, discovered Omega dollies being used to prop a trailer in place, and identified a growing trend of equipment being sold online by businesses either closing down or attempting to make quick profits. Recent listings were traced to Newtownabbey and County Antrim, where significant quantities of Omega equipment were being advertised for sale.
“This year’s results show real progress in our efforts to protect and recover industry equipment – but they also highlight just how widespread the misuse still is,” said Stacey Brown, National Investigations Manager at Bakers Basco.
“Recovering over 4,000 pieces of equipment in Northern Ireland alone is a huge achievement. However, every misused dolly or basket has a knock-on effect across the supply chain, disrupting deliveries, increasing costs and undermining the circular economy we’re working so hard to maintain.”
Bakers Basco continues to collaborate closely with Worthingtons Law to pursue cases of persistent misuse, with two legal cases now settled in Northern Ireland this year. Alongside its enforcement work, the team recently completed a driver briefing at the Hovis site in Belfast to help educate logistics partners on identifying and reporting cases of misuse before they escalate.
Looking ahead, the organisation plans to strengthen its engagement with retailers and transport partners to tackle misuse at source and to continue raising awareness about the impact of equipment loss on the wider bakery sector.
