“Leaving school, I had no idea what I was going to do,” admits Gary McAllister, the baker and director at the heart of The Bread Guy, Aberdeen.
Now, at 32, Gary is running his successful empire with a production bakery, four shops across the city and shire, and an annual turnover of £2 million.
The latest win for The Bread Guy is a deal with wholesale giants Costco to sell his butteries at the Westhill site.
Gary says his butteries will be on Costco Aberdeen shelves as early as the end of this month.
“It’s amazing,” he says. “Everybody knows Costco.
“To get that phone call one day from a buyer from Costco, saying ‘look, we know your stuff, we love it, we want it on our shelves’.
“That’s a mark of quality, that’s a sign we’re doing our jobs right.
“And I think we’re going to make a really good partnership.”
From struggling at school to multi-million pound business
School, says Gary, was just not for him.
“It was very boring for me. It was very hard to capture my attention,” he says.
“And it wasn’t for me.
“I didn’t do that great at school, if I’m honest.”
Working in a café at Aberdeen beach gave him a taste of the hospitality industry, which quickly became “an absolute obsession” for Gary.
At 17, he started a National Food & Drink Training (NFDT) apprenticeship at family baker Kelly of Cults.
“I really enjoyed being in the thick of it, being on the front lines,” he says.
“That fast-paced environment, and trying to keep up with the older generation of bakers that were training me.
“It was a challenge every day, and that’s what I liked about it. You’re always trying to be the best in the room.”
During his apprenticeship at Kelly of Cults, Gary worked under Dariusz Wisniewski, who now works as the head baker at The Bread Guy, Aberdeen.
“So that’s 16 years we’ve been working together,” he says.
“I did my apprenticeship with him, and now he’s training my apprentices.
“It’s very much a full circle moment.”
How has The Bread Guy achieved his success?
When he started The Bread Guy back in 2019, there were two members of staff – he and Dariusz.
Now, there are 65.
Back then, they would go through 10 bags of flour a week.
Now, they go through around 370 bags a week.
Today, Gary works across different areas of the business.
He laughs: “I try to stay away from the office as much as possible.
“I would be on the bread lines 12 hours a day if I could be. That’s where my passion lies.”
The Bread Guy has reached these heights because of “three key things”, says Gary.
“We’ve worked very hard on quality, consistency and innovation.
“And training the bakers to the highest standard possible.”
Gary doesn’t think he could have achieved his success without his apprenticeship as a 17-year-old.
“No,” he says, “you’ve got to learn from the best guys in the industry.
“There are so many moving cogs in the bakery. You’ve got to learn absolutely everything to run a bakery. That’s not just baking – that’s selling in the shops, driving the vans.
“So doing a craft apprenticeship where you’re getting thrown into different sectors – I just don’t think you would get that in a classroom.
“I think university is kind of the standard nowadays, but it’s not for everyone.
“It certainly wasn’t for me, that’s for sure.
“I don’t think I would be where I am today if I didn’t do a craft apprenticeship.”
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