Abigail takes over at BAKO in Preston as long-serving buyer retires

Abigail Blackburn is the new senior commodities buyer following the retirement of Frank Wade after nearly 14 years.

Frank began his career in the bakery industry as a management trainee with Holland’s Pies in 1980 and later developed a career with Northern Foods before joining BAKO in 2008, where he became known to many BAKO members as the writer of Frank’s Report, which detailed topical developments in the commodities and raw materials markets in BAKO’s inhouse In the Mix magazine.

Taking over from Frank at the Roman Way Industrial Estate-based firm, Abigail Blackburn brings six years of buying experience from previous roles including Sykes Seafood, John Morley (Importers) and EHL Ingredients.

She said: “I am really excited to be joining BAKO and am looking forward to developing and building lasting relationships with key suppliers and stakeholders within the industry and applying my knowledge of global commodity market trends and fluctuations.

“As well as building great relationships, I’m particularly passionate about sustainability and identifying projects and continuously striving for implementing sustainable solutions at source, in production facilities and throughout the supply chain.”

BAKO Group Ltd’s full list of divisions includes BAKO Ltd, BAKO Northern and Scotland, and BAKO South Eastern. Its industry accreditations include the BRC Global Standard for Storage and Distributions.