Small-scale
baking facilities were first established
in about 1888 to satisfy the growing
exhibition catering. This was undertaken
in small bakehouses and it was only in
1894 when the company purchased Cadby Hall
that large-scale baking started. The new
facilities had so much capacity that it
was decided to sell bread to the local
community from hand-carts operating from
Cadby Hall. This was expanded dramatically
and horse-drawn cabs were introduced to
take the product further afield until the
best part of London was being served. New,
automated ovens were installed raising
again the output from the factory so that
by 1913 10,000 loaves an hour were being
produced. With a higher margin for profit
on cake, and with a longer shelf life,
more emphasis was placed on this market.
The same automatic techniques were applied
to producing cake as had been used for
bread and this too soared to unprecedented
levels. Every imaginable cake was made.
Not only did the bakeries supply the
consumer market, hotels, teashops and
other restaurants the company was
operating, in 1924 they were having to
supply the British Empire Exhibition. For
this alone 260 tones of bakery products
were shipped every week for a whole year.
Cadby Hall's breathtaking production
statistics became a frequent source of
comment from analysts and journalists. Two
million Vienna rolls every week, 40,000
French pastries, half a million or 36
miles of Swiss rolls, three-quarters of a
million muffins, a quarter of a million
cream and jam sandwiches: the list was
endless. Lyons' own records show that in
1939 the bakery output reached 60,000
tons, providing an annual turnover of
£3_ million. By 1953 Lyons were
classified as the third largest producer
of bread in the UK. By the 1960s it had
absorbed several other bakeries and flour
mills in a bid to become one of the
largest bakers. By 1967 they were
producing some fifty varieties of bread
from now established regional bakeries and
embarked on an aggressive marketing
campaign to increase their market share in
cake. Several baking concerns in Europe
were bought but they were not very
successful. With the size of all
departments growing, and Cadby Hall unable
to be expanded, a large, modern, single
floor factory was built at Carlton (Nr
Barnsley) and all production of cake was
transferred; the bread department having
been sold some years earlier. 
Genevieve Tobin (actress) try her hand at
Swiss Roll making 1928.
© Peter Bird

Mince Pie production at Cadby
Hall 1927
© Peter Bird

LYONS BAKERY C. 1900 YVONNE BRAUTIGAM |
The Lyons Individual Fruit Pie was one of the Bakery Division's success stories. They were introduced in the mid 1930s and continued in production right up until 1968 when they were replaced with the Harvest Pie. It has been estimated that 2,000 million Individual Fruit Pies were made during this period. They were shaped to fit easily into lunch boxes. The pies came in 14 flavours: Apple, Apricot, Raspberry, Rhubarb, Gooseberry, Mince, Blackberry & Apple, Blackcurrant, Cherry, Orange, Peach, Pineapple, Mixberry and Lemon Curd.
Lyons also made Fruit Pies (circular in shape and priced at 1/3d) and Sixpenny Fruit Pies, also circular in shape. These three boxes are dated 1936/37.
©. Peter Bird
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