Latham family saddened by demise of iconic Preston bakery

The Lathams shop in Caxton Road, Fulwood Pic: Blog Preston

The Latham family have expressed their sadness at the news that Lathams of Broughton has been declared insolvent.

Blog Preston reported this week that the business was facing closure after more than 40 years amid rising debts and the increased cost of materials.

The business was owned by the Latham family until 2019 when it was sold and Jonathan Barton was most recently listed as the sole director.

They told Blog Preston: “The Latham family were sad to hear what had happened to Lathams of Broughton and wish Mr Barton well in his new venture.

“We are very touched by the lovely comments that have been posted about Lathams of Broughton when it belonged to the Latham family. Thank you.

“The family have happy memories of the wonderful people who worked there and so many lovely customers.”

Operating from Caxton Road in Fulwood the cake-makers have supplied Preston supermarket chain Booths for many years with their range of cakes and other bakery items. Latest accounts – for 2022 – showed the firm had 85 staff on its books.

Co-founder of Lathams, Gwen Latham, died in April this year – aged 94 – from heart failure.

Blog Preston visited the Fulwood site on Tuesday (13 August) which was trading as usual.

Speaking to Blog Preston this week, Mr Barton said a double-whammy of the Revenue changing its mind on a payment plan and rapidly increasing costs of butter and wheat have hit the Preston-famous cake and sandwich firm hard.

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