History

It was founded by Peter Knowles in 1966 with its first branch at Belmont

Belmont, County Durham

Belmont is a formerly separate village in County Durham, England that is now incorporated into, and a suburb of, Durham City. It was initially a coal mining village and is situated to the north-east of the city centre, just east of the A1 motorway...

 in Durham

Durham

Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...

; it now has 71 branches across North East England

North East England

North East England is one of the nine official regions of England. It covers Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear, and Teesside . The only cities in the region are Durham, Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland...

.

Its principal competitors are the Newcastle

Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...

 based Greggs

Greggs

Greggs plc is the largest specialist retail bakery chain in the United Kingdom. It was established in the 1930s as a single shop but has approximately 1,500 outlets....

 who maintain branches in the same area.

In 2004 its production plant at Durham was destroyed in a large fire forcing production to move to temporary accommodation in Peterlee

Peterlee

Peterlee is a new town in County Durham, England. Founded in 1948, Peterlee town originally mostly housed coal miners and their families.Peterlee has strong economic and community ties with Sunderland and Hartlepool.-Peterlee:...

until September 2005 when a new £9 million facility was opened on the same site.