When Aberdeen entrepreneur Chris McAllister started his own business at the age of 21 he admits he had no idea how successful it would become.
Fast forward six years and the former Westhill Academy pupil is now employing 55 people and has a turnover of more than £1.5 million a year.
Chris is co-founder of bakery The Bread Guy with brother Gary, 31, and sister Donna, 34.
After leaving school in the middle of sixth year Chris was at a crossroads in his life.
He always knew he wanted to run his own business but struggled to find a direction.
Lifelong ambition to run a business
Taking a year out he worked part time in Tesco still eager to fulfil his dream of being his own boss.
He said: “When I was at school I always knew I’d do something in business but was never sure what.
“Being at school in Aberdeen I feel like if you are not into oil and gas or university they don’t push you in to anything. They don’t care.
“I took a year off and worked at Tesco part-time while I figured out what I wanted to do.
“Gary was a baker and knew my business ambition so he came to me and said he wanted to start his own bakery.
“My sister is an accountant, which was a massive help, so we spoke to her and all came together to start the business.”
The Bread Guy grew from one customer to hundreds
The Bread Guy business journey started out in 2018 in Inverurie’s Blackhall Industrial Estate, before the team relocated to a new site the former Aitken’s Bakery in Torry’s Glenbervie Road in May 2020.
Former Elrick Primary pupil Chris said: “We had a tiny industrial unit in Inverurie, the size of a small flat, it was tiny.
“We started with making bread and had just one customer which was Aberdeen restaurant No. 10.
“A lot of our customers started to come from word of mouth.
“We were growing and growing and growing to a point it was a solid business supplying about 20 restaurants.
“But then Covid hit and restaurants had to close.
“We wondered what we were going to do. It was a situation of adapt or die.”
The Bread Guy relied on sales of its breads to shops as people began “panic buying”.
Chris, who was recently named on the Aberdeen Young Professionals 30 under 30s list, said: “We had started supplying farm shops and the panic buying had went up so it balanced itself out and kept us going.
“We pushed the retail and expanded our ranges to do more things such as softies that people will buy.”
New premises was turning point
The move to Torry was a turning point for The Bread Guy with the first bakery opening.
Chris, who also has two brothers Paul and Tony, said: “We were running out of space in Inverurie.
“You could not move with the oven in and racks of bread. It was something we had to jump at.
“It was very popular and we got a big reaction from the community.”
The Bread Guy team has since opened four more bakeries in Aberdeen – one on Great Northern Road, in July 2020, one on Thistle Street, in October 2021, one in Inverurie, in May 2022, and one in Hazlehead in April this year.
Its bakeries sell a range of artisan breads along with brioche buns, sausage rolls, softies, rowies, empire biscuits and doughnuts.
Chris believes The Bread Guy has completely changed the traditional view of a bakery.
He said: “We are quite different to other bakeries.
“The industry was a bit slept on and then we came in and innovated it with new products. People just couldn’t get enough of it. They love something new and different.
“We had different cakes every week and introduced a pie of the week such a chicken and chorizo.
“For a baker to put a chorizo sausage in a pie was different.
“Bakery owners tend to be a bit older. It more of a generational industry.
“We’ve got a lot of young staff and it’s very hard to find a baker. It’s a dying industry so we are trying to get young people into it to protect the future of the business.”
The Bread Guy supplies more than 100 cafes and restaurants throughout the north-east including Balmoral Castle, No. 10, Smoke & Soul, Upperkrust and The Esslemont.
Best-selling products include brioche buns and rowies.
Chris said: “Aberdeen loves a rowie.
“It’s crazy if you go to Dundee no one knows about them but up here you can’t get enough of them.”
‘No regrets’ starting The Bread Guy
The first year of The Bread Guy led to a turnover of £96,000 and it’s now between £1.5m and £2m.
Chris admits it’s taken a lot of hard work and dedication to get to where he’s at now.
He said: “When you look back it’s hard to believe that there was just myself, Gary and Donna in the unit to what it has become today.
“We’ve put a lot into it.
“These years are supposed to be the best of your life and I’ve spent the last five years putting everything I have into the business.
“I had the chance and took it with both hands.
“It is crazy to look back and see what it’s become this quick and it doesn’t look like it’s going to stop anytime soon.
“It’s not something I look back on and regret.
“I’d do it all again and make the same decisions. I’ve put everything I possibly can in to the business.”
Next step for The Bread Guy is to increase output following a six-figure on-going expansion of the factory in Torry.
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