A high street bakery chain with more than 100 stores and which rivals Greggs in some parts of Britain is at risk of going bust.
MailOnline can reveal that Wenzel’s the Bakers is at risk of disappearing from the high street after HMRC launched legal proceedings in a bid to take it to court.
The Treasury issued a winding up petition against the company on Wednesday March 19, something that could eventually lead it being put into liquidation.
Wenzel’s insists that it expects the matter to be resolved shortly and it ‘does not expect any redundancies or store closures’.
A winding up petition is issued by the taxman if a company has large amounts of unpaid debt.
It is the first step in a court-ordered liquidation process – meaning the bakery could disappear from the high street if it does not reach an agreement with the taxman.
A hearing, which currently has no set date, will decide whether the winding up order will be granted.
Wenzel’s currently has 109 stores in the UK, mainly in London and the Home Counties, with some as far afield as Dorset.
On Wednesday, March 19, 2025, a winding up petition was issued against Wenzel’s by HMRC
For the past few years, Wenzel’s has been rivalling Greggs as the go-to high-street bakery, with over 100 stores in the UK
It comes just over a year after the firm, which was set up in London 50 years ago, announced plans to expand by opening new stores across southern England.
But since then it has seen profits drop, with its most recent published accounts revealing a £4million decrease in profits.
Wenzel’s made a profit of £1.6million in the year up to March 31, 2023, down from £5.6million in the year before.
Since those accounts were published three company directors have left the firm.
The company has until March 31, 2025, to submit its latest annual report and financial statements.
Karl Spinks, Chief Operating Officer at Wenzel’s, told MailOnline: ‘The winding up notice is in relation to ongoing discussions with HMRC regarding an outstanding balance, however we are actively engaged with HMRC and expect this matter to be resolved shortly.
‘We do not expect any redundancies, we do not expect any store closures.’
A spokesperson for HMRC said: ‘We take a supportive approach to dealing with customers who have tax debts and only file winding-up petitions once we’ve exhausted all other options, in order to protect taxpayers’ money.’
Competition between bakeries is tougher than ever, with tough trading conditions taking their toll on many high street firms.
Even Wenzel’s biggest rival, Greggs, has taken a hit, with shares falling sharply at the beginning of the month.
Greggs shares fell 10.6 per cent to 1,861p in early trading, taking 2025 losses to around 33 per cent, despite making £204million in profit.
The baker highlighted weak consumer confidence and poor weather as it flagged like-for-like sales growth of just 1.7 per cent year-on-year in the first nine weeks of 2025, following a weaker than expected second half of 2024.
