Jacksons History

The bakery was established in 1944 and Jackson’s started out selling just one product – war rationed bread and they were originally based in Hasland. Cyril Jackson was the man at the helm, with his great-nephew, Trevor Jackson, taking over in 1993. Trevor expanded the business to such an extent that they acquired a brand new purpose-built bakery in Danesmoor, Clay Cross, alongside the Lower Pavements retail outlet.

Fast forward to 2017, and the business was bought by the current owners, Phil and Emmajane Allen.

No stranger to the bakery, Phil kicked off his successful career as a YTS baker at Jackson’s, before working his way up to Assistant Manager, and eventually buying the bakery with his wife Emmajane. Little did he know when he started out that he would one day own the business.

Since taking over the reins, it’s been far from plain sailing for the pair. In 2020, they were declared County winners at the prestigious National Bakery Awards. However, within weeks of their prestigious win, the UK was plunged into lockdown and the whole bakery production had to be placed on hold.

‘“It was such a tough time. Obviously, like everyone in the UK, we hadn’t ever experienced anything like it before. We found ourselves learning as we went along on a day by day basis, waiting for updates on what was happening”, Emmajane explained.

“Although the lockdown was a difficult time, looking back, it forced us into making important decisions about our business, how we wanted it to run and the direction we wanted to go. It gave us the time to stop and re-assess. In a way, we have come out stronger. It is one positive that we have been able to take from the pandemic. We also made sure that we continued our support of the community at large. Along with the daily breads that we provide for Ashgate Hospice, it was important to us that the team at Ashgate felt supported too, so we regularly sent cakes and treats to them just to let them know that we were thinking of them during the toughest of times.”