The company that's risen all the way to the top

Brothers William and Charles Eid of Dunstable-based Signature Flatbreads are celebrating after winning the 2016 Bakery Manufacturer of the Year award.

It was presented at a glittering Moulin Rouge-themed event by Rugby World Cup winner Matt Dawson and comes hot on the heels of a new £10 million state-of-the-art extension to their Chiltern Industrial Park factory.

Charles, 50, who trained as a doctor, says: “We’re really proud of the award and the company’s achievements. It’s taken many years to build our customer base and we’re very proud of our portfolio.”
This includes leading supermarket own brands as well as as Sharwood’s and McDonald’s. They also export to Europe and the Middle East and have a second factory in India.

The story began with the brothers’ late Lebanese father, Samir, who owned a bakery in Ghana. Charles recalls: “We have many happy holiday memories of playing with dough. It’s very tactile and even as a child, you can create all sorts of things with it.”

Samir established Honeytop Speciality Foods in London in 1984 but the first 10 years were a struggle. Charles joined the company 20 years ago and his engineer brother William, 52, is head of production - a hands-on technical expert who is reponsible for designing and building the bespoke equipment they require.

They employ more than 700 people and their slogan is “Quality in everything we do.”