Man who left school at 16 employs 134 staff in total

THE businessman behind a well-known chain of baker shops in Dundee has come a long way in the last quarter of a century.

Jonathon Clark left school at 16, going to college to study business development.

But, after four months, Jonathon felt that it wasn’t for him, so he opened his first enterprise – a car wash in the west end of Dundee.

After two years of juggling both ventures, Jonathon decided to let out the car wash so he could focus more on Clark’s Bakery.

He has now been the director of the firm for 15 years.

Jonathon, 41, said: “My drive in the business world is to constantly innovate.

“I am always looking for new ideas and how to implement them.”

The roots of Clark’s Bakery go back to 1950 when Earl Clark established his business in 1950 in a small corner shop on Annfield Road.

To this day, many of his recipes are still used in nine branches of Clark’s Bakery which have 134 staff.

The first drive-through is due to be built by this time next year after Dundee City Council reversed its decision to refuse permission.

The premises on the Kingsway are expected to employ 30 people.

Jonathon said: “We hold fast the principle of producing quality food made with the finest ingredients and sold at affordable prices.

“We opened our modern bakery in 1991 on Annfield Row, a stone’s throw from the original bakery.

“Then in 1995 we opened a shop within the bakery that has now become a Dundee institution – known locally as the 24/7 belly heaven – providing hot and fresh bakery goods all day and throughout the night.”

Jonathon’s other business interests in Dundee include The Butcher The Baker outlet with his friend, David Webster of Webster’s Butcher.

The butcher feeds the bakery with its meat – and customers can see the traceability of their food.

Jonathon explained how the venture came about in 2016: “I was discussing opening a butchery with David.

“We went skiing to Aviemore and the next day we drove home via the House of Bruar.

“We went in and took some pictures of the butchery area. Then we were quizzed as to why we were doing this by the butchery manager.

“After some discussions, we ended up putting a plan together and asked the manager if he would be interested in helping us.

“Three months later, we had a new butchery with the House of Bruar team working with us.

“We have the option to open our second branch next year.”

Jonathan said the Covid-19 pandemic was an extremely strange time.

He added: “We were allowed to continue trading as long as strict measures where adhered to.

“This came with many issues such as serving customers through a hatch in the wall.

“We managed this hurdle and came out of it still trading, so that’s a good sign.”

Director Jonathon Clark getting to work in Clark’s Bakery.