In a continued effort to protect the UK’s bakery supply chain, Bakers Basco has rolled out its latest round of “Who is Basco?” field intelligence sessions, this time in partnership with Allied Bakeries and Hovis.
The 2025 campaign has seen Bakers Basco conduct driver briefings at 18 sites nationwide, engaging more than 250 drivers and generating over 80 actionable leads. The sessions, which took place at key sites including Cardiff, Nottingham, Glasgow and Belfast, are designed to educate delivery drivers about identifying, reporting and preventing bakery equipment misuse.
During each session, Bakers Basco’s investigations team provided frontline drivers with practical tools to spot and report missing or misused Omega baskets and dollies – the essential assets that keep the UK’s bread deliveries moving efficiently. As a result, multiple Notices to Desist (NTDs) and charges have been issued following these sessions, with ongoing investigations continuing into several cases.
The leads gathered cover a range of misuse scenarios, from store-level mishandling and market misuse to unauthorised bakery use, helping Bakers Basco take swift action to recover and protect its equipment pool. Feedback from the sessions continues to be shared directly with sites to reinforce accountability and encourage ongoing collaboration.
“Working with Bakers Basco has been a great opportunity to re-engage our drivers in the effort to safeguard equipment across the network,” said David Chinnick, equipment planning manager at Hovis. “These sessions not only raise awareness of the scale of the problem but they also help drivers feel part of the solution. Their insights are invaluable in preventing misuse and keeping the supply chain running smoothly.”
Stacey Brown, national investigations manager at Bakers Basco, added: “The success of this campaign shows just how important driver engagement is to our work. Every lead we receive directly contributes to protecting shared industry assets, saving costs and supporting more sustainable, circular operations across the sector.”
The 2025 campaign builds on the success of previous collaborations with Warburtons and continues Bakers Basco’s mission to unite bakeries, logistics teams and retailers in tackling equipment loss and misuse. With more briefings planned into next year, Bakers Basco remains focused on strengthening supply chain resilience and promoting greater awareness across the industry.
For any instances of equipment misuse or to report suspicious activity, please contact Bakers Basco’s dedicated recovery hotline at 08000 327323.
