ONE of Merseyside's last and best loved independent bakeries is being forced to sell up.
Satterthwaites, which has seven shops in north Liverpool, has been in the same family for 102 years. Its owner today described the decision to put the business on the market as “devastating”.
Speaking to Liverpool Confidential, Roger Wilson said the firm, which employs 70 people, had suffered a downturn in its fortunes in the last 12 months owing to the double blow of aggressive marketing by big supermarket chains and the new mood of austerity.
It had survived in that time owing to an injection of private capital and in natural wastage of staff. The moves had brought a temporary light to the end of the tunnel, he said, but since the start of 2012 things had taken a turn for the worse.
“There have been difficulties on the high street in general and we haven't been immune to that,” said Mr Wilson. “Footfall dropped dramatically last year and we took measures to shore the business up.
"For a time we thought everything would be all right. But since the start of 2012 people have become scared of spending. They are saving up. We can't lose any more people and we can't put in any more money.”
Satterthwaites, opened its first shop in King Street, Southport, in 1910 before moving to Crosby and opening a bakery in Coronation Road. It also has branches in Waterloo, Maghull and Bootle.
Mr Wilson, 71, added: "I've been advised that I must sell or restructure because of declining footfall. I'm too old to meet these challenges.
"I am devastated."
The baker took to twitter to announce the company's quest for a new buyer, believing "uncertainty for staff is destructive. The temptation is to keep quiet about these things, but you risk leaving it too late until nothing can be done."
Shocked
Crucially, he said, new vision was needed. "If you know a baking entrepreneur who can uphold our standards, NOW would be a good time to call them," he declared.
The news prompted a flurry of shocked responses from the tweet-sphere with one saying: "@Satterthwaites is not for sale? that really is beyond the pale ... a local landmark, childhood friend ... Satterthwaites, it's not the end?"
Unlike, for example, Greggs - which arguably has survived the downturn by restricting itself to a more limited range of products that it produces by a more economically efficient mechanical process - Satterthwaites has long placed itself in the category of artisan bakery. This is an area growing in popularity in the more affluent south of England, yet while similar products sell for the same price in supermarkets here, Satterthwaites has perhaps been guilty of hiding its considerable lights under a bushel.
Its delicious range of pies, pasties and cakes come from recipes handed down over generations and have altered little.
"My grandfather told me he would come back and haunt me if I changed the pork pie recipe," said Mr Wilson.
"Doing the right thing is simple." he added. "Don't change it, get it right and keep it right."
While that might work for sausage rolls, Mr Wilson would be the first to admit it doesn't necessarily apply to the ever changing challenges faced by independent businesses.
He insisted: "Satterthwaites still has plenty of potential and there is a whole new market that it hasn't reached. I am looking for someone who can drive it forward with new ideas, entrepreneurial flair and above all care."
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