The family behind Lancashire-based baking brand Warburtons have paid themselves dividends of almost £15m after last year’s advertising campaign featuring Hollywood star Robert De Niro helped the company return to profit.
Last May, Taxi Driver star De Niro, 76, appeared alongside chairman Jonathan Warburton in a TV ad promoting the firm’s bagels.
Warburtons, founded in Bolton in 1876, made profits of £11.3m in the year to September 2019, reversing a £6.6m loss the year before.
The company, which employs 4,500 people at 12 sites, said sales of bread had continued to drop, but that bagels, teacakes and other lines were growing. Sales fell to £506.5m, down on the £551.8m recorded two years before.