Clark’s Bakery: Dundee firm’s pride at Courier Business Awards success

The Courier Business Awards, in partnership with Henderson Loggie, is celebrating 10 years of finding and showcasing the best businesses across Tayside and Fife.

With entries now open for The Courier Business Awards 2023, we’re taking a closer look at the impact of the awards on previous winners.

Here, we catch up with Jonathon Clark of Clark’s Bakery after it won Dundee Family Business of the Year at The Courier Business Awards in 2017.

Over 70 years of Clark’s Bakery

Clark’s Bakery has been serving freshly baked goods to the Dundee community for more than 70 years now.

Behind its decades of success is a family of bakers who have a passion for putting the customer first.

It all started with Earl Clark who opened a small corner shop on Annfield Road in 1950. He made fried egg filled rolls in the back of his shop that proved to be a hit with local mill workers.

His son, Alan started helping out at the age of ten, after going to school or to church.

At 15, Alan left school to start an apprenticeship in the family business, learning all he could about the bakery.

He grew as a baker even more as he travelled throughout Europe and then working at a Dutch bakery in Auckland, New Zealand.

Alan returned to Scotland in 1971 and took over the family business after his father retired.

Over the next three decades, he tried to grow the bakery. He moved it to various retail locations within Dundee.

Along the way, he learned lessons on supplying wholesale bakery goods before expanding in the 1990s.

What’s next for Clark’s Bakery?

Alan handed over the reins in 2000 to his son Jonathon, who had big ambitions to take the bakery to new directions.

As director, Jonathon was instrumental in transforming the business into a successful bakery/deli takeaway.

He also teamed up with his friend, David Webster of Webster’s Butcher, to come up with The Butcher The Baker.

That venture helps to reassure customers that only the best meats are used in Clark’s Bakery’s products.

Now, Clark’s Bakery’s influence on Dundee’s retail sector is undeniable. It has evolved into one of the city’s major employers, operating with more than 100 staff spread over nine branches.

But Jonathan said the firm is not about to rest on its laurels.

He adds: “We’re focusing on how to make the customers’ experience in our shops better.

“We’re looking at coming out with healthier options for them. We want to make what we’ve got better.”

Recognition at The Courier Business Awards

It’s this desire to constantly improve that earned Clark’s Bakery recognition at the 2017 Courier Business Awards.

Jonathon says: “It’s great for business, especially for boosting staff morale, that we won the award. It made the whole team feel proud.”

Jonathon urges other local businesses to nominate themselves for the same award: “If you don’t enter, you won’t win.”

Entries for The Courier Business Awards 2023 are now open and this year’s winners will be announced during an awards ceremony in October.