We are delighted to announce our investment in Reeve the Baker, the much-loved, third-generation regional bakery renowned for its high-quality bread and baked goods, baked fresh every day.
We are partnering with Gary Reeve and Managing Director Mathieu Le Bras, previously MD of Gail’s The Bread Factory. They are joined by new Chairman Nick Collins, CEO of our former partner brand Loungers, which has grown to over 300 sites nationwide. Our investment will help Reeve grow across the market towns of the South of England, reaching communities who have been asking for a Reeve of their own for many years.
We have a long track record of backing food and drink brands from the South-West with their own manufacturing, including Devon-based premium dog food brand Forthglade and Gloucestershire-based drinks brand Bottlegreen.
Loved for generations
Harold Reeve founded the family business in 1952. His son Ray opened the first shop in Wilton in 1971. Three generations on, with Gary Reeve at the helm, Reeve has grown to 13 shops across Wiltshire and Hampshire, with a new Dorchester shop opening in November.
Reeve employs over 200 people and turns over £12m, making it a significant local employer. The brand runs deep in family histories, and we have met many people in the area who remember working there with real fondness.
There is so much history to lean on. Early on, we were handed one of only three copies of Memories of a Village Baker, Ray Reeve’s own history of the business. It felt like being handed a first folio, and a sign of how much the heritage and family values matter. Inside is a photo of Harold’s 1934 recipe book and a whole section on the right way to fry doughnuts.
For Gary, protecting his family’s legacy was at the heart of the decision to partner with us: “For more than seven decades, Reeve the Baker has been part of the daily lives of our customers and communities. Finding the right partner to help secure the future of the business was incredibly important to us. Piper shares our belief in the strength of the Reeve brand, our people and our values. This investment gives us the opportunity to continue growing while staying true to everything that has made Reeve the Baker special.”
It is an honour to partner with a brand that has been around for so long, and we are fully aware of the need to grow it sensitively, listening to and caring for the generations of loyal local customers who have made Reeve what it is today.
Baked fresh every day
Reeve is famous for its sourdough, cheese straws and doughnuts, all baked in its own 13,000 sq ft central bakery in Wilton. It was one of the first bakeries to bring sourdough to the UK 20 years ago and has developed it ever since.
Like much of the population, we had not fully appreciated how ultra-processed supermarket bread and baked goods are. In his book, Ray Reeve writes passionately about fighting back against factory-made sliced bread. There is a lot of smoke and mirrors around what “fresh” bread in a supermarket really means. Many mass-produced loaves labelled “sourdough” (often called “sourfaux”) actually rely on commercial yeast, vinegar or additives to speed up baking and mimic the tangy flavour.
Consumers are wising up, and the appetite for local bakeries like Reeve is rising. Branded bakeries are one of the fastest-growing parts of hospitality, up 4% year on year to £3.5bn. Sales of sourdough loaves at in-store bakeries rose 49% in 2025, and Waitrose reported a 15% rise in annual bakery sales. Shoppers want premium, artisan bread (especially sourdough), convenience and, for remote workers, a change of scene. Rather than an expensive restaurant meal, they are increasingly happy to spend £5 to £8 on a small everyday treat.
A big part of people’s lives
When we first visited Reeve, we thought we would be investing in a quick-service bakery. We soon realised it plays a much deeper role in people’s lives: a special treat shared across generations, and an extension of the weekly food shop. Two-thirds of customers plan their trip, almost nine in ten purchases are taken away, and half take their products home.
Our research partner Juniper helped us interview 700 customers outside Reeve shops. Customers had been shopping with the brand for an average of 9.5 years, rising to 14 years in Wilton and Salisbury. They visit with partners, children and colleagues, and often alone, with many coming five or more times a month, a frequency we rarely see in hospitality. The Net Promoter Score (NPS) is an exceptional 80, and 94% of customers rate their experience “excellent” or “very good”.
When we asked what they would have done if Reeve had been closed that day, supermarkets were mentioned as often as other bakeries. What particularly made us smile was the 18% who said they would simply go home. One response stood out: “I will cry and visit the Director’s home to complain.” Tongue-in-cheek, of course, but a clear sign of how much the brand matters.
Broad appeal across communities
We were struck by just how universal the brand is, attracting people across life stages and affluence levels. This is what makes the offer adaptable and relevant. Over the years we have worked out, time and again, how many sites a brand can support in the UK. This was the first time we limited the work to a 90-minute drive of a single bakery. Even within that radius of Wilton, there is room for close to 100 sites, a density we have rarely seen and a sign of how much demand there is for what Reeve does.
The Wilton bakery is the beating heart of the business. While everyone else is asleep, it is alive with the sound of bakers and the smell of fresh bread. One local legend from Ray’s book tells of a baker in 1971 who was late for his 4am shift every day. Ray solved it by driving past at 3.30am on his way to the bakery and banging on the man’s upstairs bedroom window with a broom. The baker was never late again. We are looking forward to joining the 3.30am shift delivering bread to the shops and meeting the communities they serve. We may need to resurrect that broom to help us wake up.