Our Story - Murdoch Allan (2024)

Elsewhere on these pages, we’ve let some of our products speak for themselves (and my they do have plenty to say!) – so we thought it’s only fair that we let our ‘baker-in-chief, Paul Allan, tell his own family story too.

“My grandfather was a baker all his life and for 42 years in the business he was nothing short of obsessed with ingredients – and was a renowned ‘collector’ of recipe books – always looking for a new idea, a new taste. My father and his two brothers all learned their trade as apprentice bakers under my grandfather, and it was his enduring emphasis on the importance of true ‘character’ – in shaping a person, a baker, and a family – that has informed everything we have done since.

It was my father who established the foundations of the business you see today back in 1991, and as a teenager, I joined as an apprentice baker straight from college. To begin with we had just the one shop in Fraserburgh, but this was soon followed by a second shop in Strichen and then, in 2002, with the third shop in Hatton. Today, we have a total of six shops across the North-East and a team of over 150, some of whom have been with us for 30 years or more.

We never don’t deliver. Our business is just like the ‘news’ – we’re a team that needs to turn up with something fresh and enticing every day – day after day, week after week, year after year. And that needs focussed people, efficient processes, and a willingness to always go the extra mile for our customers – whether that’s a regular order from a guest house in Peterhead or from one of the many supermarkets we now supply at a local or national level.

Today, as we continue to build on the hard work of previous generations, innovation is a huge part of our thinking. Innovation both in our products and our processes; creating more appealing taste experiences and investing in technology to make things better or easier for our trusted employees. Because we recognise that we’re all in this together, working tirelessly from the earliest hours of the morning and then throughout the day to ensure that we deliver 100% consistency and 100% customer satisfaction.”