New Half the Story bakery to create even more life-changing jobs
- Adam Kirkup
- Oct 20
- 2 min read
Half the Story is a social enterprise run by Grace Enterprises, changing the lives of people experiencing major barriers to work, including homelessness. Since its launch in 2023, Half the Story has already generated over 10,000 hours of real Living Wage work, and sold over a million biscuits to corporate and retail partners around the UK.
And now, Half the Story is celebrating the opening of its new bakery!
Based at Half the Story’s site in Wilford, Nottingham, this state-of-the-art bakery will make space for Half the Story to create even more life-changing jobs.
Designed and installed by PKL, the new bakery can facilitate a larger number of bakers and packers working at one time, increasing production and, more importantly, providing more employment opportunities for individuals who face major barriers to work.
Unemployment caused by barriers to work can impact an individual’s whole life. This can exacerbate the challenge of sustaining employment, creating a vicious cycle which is hard to break free from.
Half the Story’s mission is to break this cycle. Every 100 biscuits creates one hour of real Living Wage work. During their time at Half the Story, employees are also offered mentoring and holistic, trauma-informed support. As a result, 96% of employees agreed that working for Half the Story affected their life positively.
This creates an opportunity for tangible and sustainable life-change. Alex* (name changed for anonymity.) shared about their experience:
“I was struggling to find a job which would support my needs as I am autistic. Previous job placements had failed because I didn’t get much support or training to cope with my additional needs.
[At Half the Story] I have liked learning new skills, I have lovely work colleagues, it is a small team and I feel comfortable and encouraged there. They are a very friendly bunch.
It gives me confidence and a sense of purpose, and regular routine in my week.”
Matt, Half the Story’s founder, reflected on the growth and success of Half the Story:
“Wow! We can’t believe the incredible growth we’ve seen here at Half the Story. For us, it’s not about baking biscuits, but about changing lives. We want to be pioneers in the biscuit industry, considering our environmental impact. We want to provide transformative employment opportunities for those that need it most. We can’t wait to see all that happens in the future!”
Half the Story is enormously grateful to the partners, funders and friends who have made this new chapter possible, and provided the opportunity to create even more life-changing jobs:
The Swann Foundation
