Brace's, the Gwent baker, is celebrating a hundred years of production and growth. Business Argus looks at the company today

EXPANSION, innovation and bringing in new business are the guiding principles of Brace's, the largest independent bakery in Wales, as it embarks on its second century.

It is a long way from the early days recalled in our first look at the business through the memories of Mrs Tustian Sargeant, grand-daughter of company founder George Brace and daughter of his son, Ernest.

It is now run by the fourth generation of the Brace family, Mark and Jonathan, and still overseen by their father, Colin.

The last two decades have seen the company rise from a local bakery to a regional bread supplier and one of Gwent's most successful indigenous businesses.

For example, it started producing sliced bread at its bakery at Croespenmaen in 1980.

Since then, the company has grown considerably and the product range has undergone a number of changes.

The bakery now produces 80 different products including white, brown and wholemeal loaves as well as speciality Welsh produce from bara brith and Tiger Bay loaf to its popular Welsh cakes.

Its white sliced loaf remains its best-selling product, however, and 55 million loaves per year are now finding their way on to shelves across the region.

But the company has not confined its business to Wales alone. It is trading successfully in the South West of England, with contracts at Tesco, Spar, Safeway, Sainsburys and Asda.

In Wales, Brace's supplies its products to all the major multiples and independent stores, taking the brand into more than 2,000 stores across South Wales.

Following an upsurge in orders last year and new listings gained in major multiples and independents, the bakery added six new lorries to its fleet, with deliveries covering almost 6,000 miles per day.

The company also opened a depot in Swansea, allowing its range of luxury bread and morning goods to be delivered directly to West Wales for the first time, meeting the bakery's requirement to get bread on the shelves between four and twelve hours after baking.

The company employs more than 180, most of whom are local, making it one of the major employees in the area.

The company has quadrupled in the last ten years and now has a turnover of £12.5 million. But it is still committed to maintaining the successful family approach.

Jonathan Brace said the business had certainly grown since the early days when their great-grandfather delivered bread by horse and cart, but the values and the ambition to succeed remained the same.

"The bread market in South Wales has become increasingly competitive over recent years but we have retained our market position, with over a quarter of the Welsh public regularly buying our products," he said.

"Our customer base is set to continue growing.

"Our centenary has marked an important milestone for the company and has given us the opportunity to reflect on how far we have come in the last 100 years.

"We know our consumers extremely well and are confident that by responding to the demands of today's retailers and their customers and continually driving forward product and service quality, we will remain the number one choice for bread in Wales."