Greenhalghs Craft Bakery, Company

A long established family business which has grown successfully over fifty years, Greenhalgh’s is a craft bakery. Our produce is more than made, it is crafted. The whole enterprise is testimony to the master craftsman who was self-taught. He applied his considerable energy and business talent to become the inspiration and driving force that created Greenhalgh’s into the family firm which it is today. That craftsman was Allan Smart (1924 – 2003). Allan’s love of baking was nurtured in his own home and he often spoke about how he learnt his initial skills by watching his mother performing huge weekly bakes in the back kitchen of a house on Tudor Avenue, Bolton. A remarkable man of incredible wisdom and common sense, he left school at the age of 14 and embarked on a lifetime of learning. He had an all-consuming passion for good food and a zero tolerance of anything careless or slipshod. Back in the day... Greenhalgh’s Bakery Shop was originally owned by Mr James Greenhalgh. It was bought in the 1940’s by Bolton Palais de Danse Company, primarily to supply their local dance hall with bakery products. Allan was recruited to be the Bakery Manager. Whilst working for the Palais Company. Allan spotted one of their young lady office employees and identified the woman with whom he wished to share his life. He married Kathleen in 1950 and from that day forward she was at his side in everything he did. When Mecca took over the Palais Company in 1957, they were prepared to sell the operation to Mr Smart as a going concern. Mr and Mrs Smart initially named the enterprise ‘Greenhalgh’s Model Bakery’ (later to be renamed Greenhalgh’s Craft Bakery) to show that it was a model for all others to follow.