“I know I’m not going to be a millionaire running a bakery,” says Phil Clayton.
We are speaking in the busy bakery he runs with his wife Tina. It is only 10am, but the operation has been in full swing for nine hours.
Clayton says it is “absolutely not true” that the bakery enjoys more profit due to price rises.
In May, families were paying 2% more for bread rolls than they were a year earlier, according to the CPI.
But in April, farmers were receiving 0.3% less for wheat, the main ingredient, according to API figures.
The 2% increase in prices for customers is smaller than the 3% rise seen across the whole CPI index.
Clayton says he does not regret increasing his prices by 10p to 20p.
“My responsibility is to make sure all of this lot get paid,” he says, referring to his 30-strong team, which includes bakers, delivery drivers and Saturday staff employed in the cafe that adjoins the bakery.
Clayton points out the extra money shoppers pay at the tills goes towards increases in rent, wages, National Insurance, delivery fuel and the rising cost of flour – much of which originates from farms in the region.
