The Milton Keynes Business Achievement Awards is set to celebrate its tenth anniversary at a glittering ceremony on March 21, 2024. The strong relationship MKBAA shares with its headline sponsors has underpinned the success of the event over the last decade. In 2023, Brioche Pasquier UK came on board as a new headline sponsor, and is returning for a second year.
As a company, Brioche Pasquier is also set to celebrate a milestone year in 2024, marking its 50th anniversary after starting in France in 1974. Since then, the company has grown into an internationally recognisable brand which, 21 years ago, put its roots down in the UK. Today, Brioche Pasquier’s UK operation is housed in a 240,000 square foot, technologically advanced production facility in the heart of Milton Keynes. Sustainably developed over the last seven years, the facility can now produce up to a million brioche rolls every day. New lines currently under development will increase this capacity, allowing
Brioche Pasquier to bake over 2.5 million products a day. These expansion projects over the next two to five years will service the UK market, supporting the strong growth of the company, and create jobs across Milton Keynes.
Managing & Industrial Director Ryan Peters spoke about the company’s decision to be a headline sponsor of the awards agai
n, and how technology, the theme of this year’s awards, plays a critical part in Brioche Pasquier’s own development and future growth aims.
Brioche Pasquier has returned as a headline sponsor of the MKBAA, what encouraged the company to show its continued support into a second year?
Following the success of the previous awards and having seen, first hand, the quality of the businesses and individuals we are surrounded by in MK, it made perfect sense for us to be involved again. Supporting the local community is at the forefront of all we do and if being a headline sponsor helps enhance this in any way, then it also becomes an honour.
This year’s theme for MKBAA is ‘Forever Innovative – Milton Keynes Leading the UK’s High-tech Future’ – how does this resonate with Brioche Pasquier?
For Brioche Pasquier, technology is at the heart of what makes us unique. Alongside our simple yet authentic recipes, made up from purely natural ingredients, we have been a leader in our field, using innovative thinking and design to aid us in the production process and help give our products an unrivalled shelf life, without the use of any added preservative (powdered, alcoholic or other).
2024 marks the 50th anniversary of Brioche Pasquier as a company. How has the company embraced technology over the years?
From the beginning, we used technology to set us apart. Our engineers were kept close to our bakers, to see what they did and how they did it. This led to designing our own production lines, to replicate as near as possible what the baker would do.
We build our own lines, with our internal engineering teams, and this also aids the growth and development of our people. Another key factor, which is unique, is that we write, in-house, all our soft- ware and automation programmes to give complete control and autonomy to our teams. This makes it very difficult for others to copy and challenge our process as it is purely our ‘Savior Faire’.
How can you see technology within your sector develop over the next 10 to 50 years?
We hope that we can stay ahead of the field!
Honestly, though, we hope that it will develop in such a way as to enable us to deliver products for our consumers that will stay as tasty and safe as today, whilst keeping the cost within the right frame and help enhance efficiencies alongside improving our environmental impact. The consumer is key, and we must ensure everything we do is centred around enjoyment and affordability.
The company has always supported the local community, is this built into the ethos of the company worldwide?
It is part of our core values, and in our DNA. Right from the beginning of the journey, in 1936, Gabriel Pasquier added animal feed, from a nearby supplier, to his daily brioche deliveries to the outlying farms and villages, which helped the farmers save time and expense.
Today, we immerse ourselves in our locality and use our concept of ‘territorial anchorage’, to build relationships within the community and try to give a little bit back. This can be anything from working with local businesses, employing local people, or aiding local charity and community bodies.
Being part of where we are producing is important to us, as it gives a sense of belonging and allows us to showcase who we are and what we believe in.
What are you looking forward to most about the awards this year?
This year will, I’m sure, give MK businesses the opportunity to showcase their collective strength, diversity and forward thinking in the technological field. Being part of this brings great pride and a sense of partnership with our business colleagues and community. We cannot wait to see what is new and what is coming in the near future, that can help MK cement its place as the number one city for technology and hopefully encourage more businesses and people to come here.
The Milton Keynes Business Achievement Awards take place on March 21, 2024 at Stadium MK. Entries are now closed but table sales are open, and there are a limited number of sponsorship opportunities available.
Visit www.mkbaa.co.uk for more information.
