Born in 1946 and brought up in Cupar, Fife, I was educated at the local school - 
The conference theme was Supporting our Craft with key note addresses from:
Stewart Stevenson, MSP the Minister for Environment and Climate Change who talked about supporting the bakery sector in Scotland and passing on the love of good food to the next generation.
Ken McMeikan, Chief Executive of Greggs Plc tackled the thorny issue of combatting the rise of the supermarket and offered high street bakers hope for the future and ideas for creative thinking to widen the services high street bakers offer their loyal customers.
Ken joined Greggs PLC in 2008 as Chief Executive after a long and distinguished retail career with the Sears Group, Tesco and Sainsbury which included a spell as CEO of Tesco in Japan. Under Ken’s leadership, Greggs has delivered record underlying profits in 2010 and 2011, and is on track to deliver ambitious growth plans to open another 600+ shops in the UK, creating around 6,000 new retail jobs. Ken is HRH Prince of Wales’ Ambassador for the North East, as a result of his commitment to socially responsible business practice and work in local communities. He is also the Regional Chairman of the CBI North East.
Paul Hollywood spoke about how to capitalise on the increased interest in home and commercial baking by delivering the products customers want to a consistently high standard.
Paul is well known as a judge alongside Mary Berry on BBC’s Great British Bake Off.
The son of a baker with a chain of shops on the East Coast of England, he has worked as head baker at some of the UK’s most exclusive hotels including Cliveden, Chester Grosvenor and The Dorchester. He went on to establish the Paul Hollywood Artisan Bread Company and now supplies Harrods, amongst others, with his own branded bread. In 2005, he authored a best-selling book ‘100 Great Breads’ which has been published in ten countries and seven languages, and was voted ‘top bread and pastry book’ by the Gourmand Academy. His second book ‘How to Bake’ will be published by Bloomsbury in May 2012.
Mr Stevenson commented
"Scotland has an impressive reputation world-wide as a land of food and drink. The bakery sector continues to contribute to that. It is now incumbent on us all to energise the next generation and show how baking is central to people's lives."
Ken McKeikan stated
"Small and medium sized bakers have a choice, to let the supermarkets corner the convenience market or fight back by continuing to offer customers a unique and quality experience. We need to think creatively and explore new opportunities to meet customer needs and delight them with every visit."
Paul Hollywood said
"I am and will always be a baker and I believe in the contribution bakers make to people's lives. I will always promote the high street baker as I believe the quality of baked goods more than justifies stopping into a local baker, I want to see queues out of the doors again. And to see the industry in Scotland come together in one place with a view to delivering even better quality and creativity is really heartening."
Alan Clarke, Chief Executive of Scottish Bakers said
Scottish Bakers has represented and promoted the interests of the bakery trade in Scotland since 1891. The Association believes that it is an integral part of each members business operation. As such it can be called upon to provide a valuable source of advice.
