From its origins in the Cornish harbour town of Mevagissey to 70 bakeries across the UK, Cornish Bakery has always been a people-first business. Now employing over 800 people, with four more bakeries due to open before the end of the year, the award-winning company credits its sustained growth and success to its culture, its people, and its clear purpose to ‘Nourish People’. Building on that foundation, Cornish Bakery has launched a new mission to ‘Change Hospitality for Good’, an ambitious commitment to create a world-class place to work and set a new benchmark for positive workplace culture in the UK hospitality sector.
The company’s purpose shapes everything from how the business recruits and develops its teams to how it rewards them. Benefits include an extra day off for birthdays, private healthcare, quarterly team rewards based on bakery performance, and a shareholder scheme after two years of service.
Cornish Bakery has also proudly built a culture of collaboration and empowerment. Guided by the mantra to make ‘decisions in the bakery, not the boardroom’, teams are actively involved in new product development, trials and business improvements. Weekly ‘Dragon’s Den’ style sessions invite any employee to pitch ideas or investment proposals directly to leadership, reinforcing an open and inclusive culture where everyone can contribute.
Each individual bakery is encouraged to bed into its local community, hosting everything from live music nights and mental health events to local fundraising activities, ensuring that Cornish Bakery’s presence and impact goes far beyond its physical bakeries.
One example of its strong commitment to internal development and career progression is Victoria Lintern’s journey. Victoria was recently promoted to People Director after eight years with Cornish Bakery in various HR roles. Since she joined, the business has grown from 200 to over 850 employees, underscoring both the scale of its expansion and the opportunities created for its people. Victoria has been an integral part of helping shape the people-first culture every step of the way.
The company’s people-focused approach is paying dividends. In its most recent engagement survey, Cornish Bakery achieved an employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) of 45 – the highest in its history and more than double that of the previous year. Retention has also improved, and 67% of all internal appointments now come from within the business, reflecting a strong culture of growth and opportunity.
At the company’s recent annual managers event, founder Steve Grocutt presented 17 ‘Legend Awards’ celebrating long service and exceptional contribution. The event also marked the official launch of Cornish Bakery’s new mission, ‘Change Hospitality for Good’, an ambitious commitment to building a world-class place to work and setting a new benchmark for positive workplace culture in the UK hospitality sector.
Cornish Bakery managing director, Mat Finch said: “Our team tell us that our culture is a big part of why they work for Cornish Bakery. As we grow, we need even more people to lead and role-model that culture, developing great careers in hospitality. We must continue to nourish our culture because a happy team is everything. A happy team is highly engaged and retained, they enjoy coming to work. We want people to stay and grow with us but if they do decide to leave, we wish for them to leave happy and positive about their experience, maybe returning one day or recommending us to others. We consider that the true measure of a great workplace.”
Finch continued:“Today, and every day, we are doing things differently, for our valued people, in a standout way that is decidedly un-corporate. While many businesses in the sector are cutting back on people and leaning into automation, we are proud to be taking a different route, keeping our teams at the heart of the bakery experience. This is incredibly important to us and we have ambitions to go even further in terms of strengthening our culture and making a positive impact on the industry. We plan to drive even better team engagement, promoting more team members to manager roles, developing life-long careers. Fundamentally, we strive to be ranked as a world-class place to work.”
Cornish Bakery’s people-first philosophy is not only creating engagement but also driving results. The company recently delivered a record-breaking summer of trading, achieving 24% total sales growth year-on-year, with 8% like-for-like sales growth in August, despite the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) reporting a continued decline in UK retail spend that month. Customer numbers, average order values, and satisfaction scores all continue to rise, with the August Bank Holiday delivering the company’s biggest ever week of sales.
As Cornish Bakery continues its expansion and mission to Change Hospitality for Good, its commitment remains clear, to create a workplace where people thrive, communities flourish, and hospitality is celebrated as a rewarding, lifelong career. With its people-first values, growing national footprint, and record-breaking results, it truly is setting new standards for how hospitality businesses can thrive, through purpose, culture, and care.
