Biscuit business raises over £1,000 for Cancer Research

Ashton-based Hill Biscuits team on the Race for Life

Hill Biscuits is celebrating after raising more than £1,000 for Cancer Research’s Race for Life in the run up to their own 170th birthday.

A team of six from the biscuit bakers, including Commercial Director Tracey Meadows, laced up their trainers and completed the five-kilometre course around Heaton Park with 100s of other enthusiasts, in the annual Cancer Research Race for Life. The Hill team raised a whopping £1,015 between them, completely smashing their target of £350.

Tracey said: “We’re like a big family and providing opportunities for our staff to get involved in events such as Race for Life has a positive impact on morale, productivity and wellbeing, giving us all a boost! And we appreciated hearing the cheer from the sidelines too!

“As a team, we love spreading the joy of baking beyond our factory, reaching out into the locality is important to us, not just by donating biscuits but also by fundraising, and certainly for a worthy cause such as Cancer Research. Many of us are affected by cancer in some way.”

Hill Biscuits support staff in many ways and will continue to provide opportunities that encourage togetherness.

“We’re all one team, regardless of our position in the company, it’s part of our DNA,” added Tracey.

Meanwhile, the business has been busy baking up closer community ties thanks to its links with Droylsden’s Laurus Ryecroft school.

Team members joined the buzz of a careers fair at the school, having established links with the educational establishment through their biscuit bake-off competition in May.

The event saw Hill join some 40 other employers, local colleges, universities and apprenticeship providers sharing industry knowledge with Year 9, 10 and 12 students who are exploring career opportunities and further education pathways within the region.

Tracey explained: “Focusing on future talent and talking about possible careers at Hill, within various departments and in bakery as a whole, is a huge part of our on-going CSR efforts. By offering work experience to Laurus Ryecroft students, we hope to encourage a new generation of talent into the food manufacturing sector.

“Introducing young people into the real business world is an incredibly powerful, hands-on experience and opportunity, supporting their learning about manufacturing and how it all ties together. 

“Showing them how an idea materialises in a product, involving processes such as New Product Development (NPD), logistics, marketing, brand design, finance, resource planning and engineering, is a fantastic way to teach them.”

The biscuit business is on a huge countdown to its 170th birthday next year with Hill looking to continue to strengthen ties with the community.

Founded in 1855 by Sarah and John Hill as a small family run shop in Dukinfield, the business expanded and in 1893 moved into Tudno Mill in Ashton, where Hill’s bakery remains.

The two-acre site employs some 370 people locally and operates round the clock.

A British success story, Hill has become one of the largest and longest established biscuit manufacturers in the UK following family recipes handed down through the generations, producing hundreds of millions of biscuits each year.