Lightbody
Company
Lightbody is the UK's leading supplier of Celebration cakes to the UK multiples... so the chances are if you have had a birthday cake more than once in the last 5 years, you will have eaten a Lightbody product! Based in Hamilton and employing around 1,000 people, the business has two bakeries plus a European Sales and Marketing operation based in Rennes, France.
The initial bakery manufactures a wide range of party cakes, and is the leading licensing partner in the cake industry. In it's stable, it has the exclusive rights to Disney party cakes, plus the Thornton's brand. These two brands provide a strong foundation to which more fashionable licences like Bratz, and Dr Who can be added. The second bakery has two small cake lines producing a wide range of cereal clusters, and other indulgent small cakes.
Sales are around £50m per annum, with plenty of opportunities for growth by driving the celebration and small cake categories into more indulgent areas... we all like to treat ourselves on special occasions after all!
History
After 100 years as a retail bakery business, Martin Lightbody convinced his dad in the early 1990's that their days were numbered as the large supermarkets entered their territory. He decided it was time to sell those shops, borrow a pile of cash from the bank, and build a celebration cake bakery to supply the retailers — a classic case of if you cant beat them, join them! From nowhere, the business became the leading supplier of birthday & party cakes in the UK within 10 years. This was achieved by taking a leading position on licences (e.g Teletubbies, Bob the Builder, Spiderman ... and now Disney), plus focusing on delivering excellent new product development to their customers.
Having taken the lead in party cakes, it was decided to kit out a second bakery to take the small cake market onto a new level. A £3m investment followed in a processing line which provides a unique blend of confectionery, cake, and high-speed wrapping ... look out for exciting new multi-layered products in your supermarket soon!
Not content with the UK, it was decided to try & spread the word across Europe about the joys of celebration cakes. After all, French kids love Winnie the Pooh as much our kids in the UK do and sales exceeded the €1m per month level during 2006.
During 2006, Martin Lightbody and Finsbury started chatting and it soon became clear that the businesses were a perfect match with their focus on innovation, quality, and the premium end of the market place — and about a year later, they were joined together.
Product Range
- A wonderful array of celebration & party cakes for all occasions
- A taste-tastic bunch of Thornton's cakes
- Tubs full of great bite size snacks
- A festivally jolly selection of Christmas cakes
